Door control mechanism

ABSTRACT

A door control mechanism for controlling the movement of a sectional door between the closed position and the open position thereof wherein the door is biased towards the closed position thereof, the mechanism accommodating manual movement of the door to the open position followed by an automatic movement of the door to the closed position followed by an automatic movement of the door to the open position and then followed by manual movement of the door to the closed position, the mechanism including a first latch having a door-holding condition for holding the door in its open position and having a door-releasing condition for releasing the door and allowing it to move to the closed position thereof, a second latch mechanism having a device-connecting condition for connecting an energy-storing device to the door thereby automatically to move the door to the open position thereof, and having a device-holding condition for maintaining the energy-storing device out of operative connection with the door, a trigger for selectively operating the first and second latch mechanisms, and a selector for selectively rendering the trigger operable to change the condition of only one of the first and second latch mechanisms at one time.

United States Patent Bahnsen 1 Jan. 18, M72

[54] DOOR CONTROL MECHANISM [72] Inventor: Erwin B. Bahnsen, Hinsdale,Ill. [57] ABSTRACT [73] Assignee: Steiner American Corporation, SaltLake A i comm] mechamsm for commiling the movement City, Utah sectionaldoor between the closed position and the open position thereof whereinthe door is biased towards the closed [22] Filed: Oct. 29, 1969 positionthereof, the mechanism accommodating manual movement of the door to theopen position followed by an au- [2 [1 Appl' 872l30 tomatic movement ofthe door to the closed position followed by an automatic movement of thedoor to the open position [52] US. Cl ..l60/l9l,49/200, 49/272, and thenfollowed by manual movement of the door to the 379 closed position, themechanism including a first latch having a [5 Int. Cl. doo uholdingcondition for the door in open posiof Search [ion and having a dooreleasing condition for releasing the 49/199 263474; 160/ 188-191 doorand allowing it to move to the closed position thereof, a

second latch mechanism having a device-connecting condi- [56] ReferencesCited tion for connecting an energy-storing device to the door UNITEDSTATES PATENTS thereby automatically to move the door to the openposition thereof, and having a device-holding condition for maintain-2,543,506 2/195 1 Peters ..49/267 ing the energy-storing device out ofoperative connection with 2,630,597 1953 R0bin80l1- 191 the door, atrigger for selectively operating the first and 2,749,570 6/ 1956 Aldersecond latch mechanisms, and a selector for selectively 2,882,044 4/1959Ginte ..l60/l89 X Primary ExaminerJ. Karl Bell AuomeyPrangley, Clayton,Mullin, Dithmar & Vogel rendering the trigger operable to change thecondition of only one of the first and second latch mechanisms at onetime.

43 Claims, 40 Drawing Figures PATENTED JAN 1 8 m2 SHEET 3 OF 7 PATENTEUm n a as?! sum 5 UF 7 mm mmm V u svw Q at DOOR CONTROL MECHANISM Thisinvention is directed to a door control mechanism of the type usefulwith garage doors and the like, and particularly useful in combinationwith sectional overhead doors.

It is an important object of the present invention to provide animproved combination for use with an associated building having adoor-receiving opening therein, the combination comprising first andsecond tracks for attachment to the associated building respectivelyadjacent to the sides of the door-receiving opening, a sectional doorhaving a plurality of rollers mounted thereon and engageable in thetracks for movement of the door between a first position with respect tothe opening and a second position with respect to the opening,counterbalance mechanism for mounting on the associated buildingadjacent to the door-receiving opening to counterbalance the door sothat the door is biased toward the second position thereof, and doorcontrol mechanism for mounting on the associated building andoperatively connected to the door for accomplishing manual movement ofthe door from the first position to the second position followed byautomatic movement of the door from the second position to the firstposition followed by an automatic movement of the door from the firstposition to the second position and then followed by a manual movementof the door from the second position to the first position.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an improvedcombination of the type set forth in which the door control mechanismtherefor includes first latch mechanism operatively associated with thedrive connection and having a door-holding condition for holding thedoor against the biasing means subsequent to a manual movement of thedoor to the second position and having a door-releasing conditionpermitting movement of the door to the first position, a door-drivingdevice for the control mechanism and operative when connected to thedrive connection automatically to move the door from the first positionthereof to the second position thereof, second latch mechanism having adevice-connecting condition for connecting the door-driving device tothe associated door to effect automatic operation thereof from the firstto the second position thereof and having a device-holding condition formaintaining the door-driving device out of operative connection with thedoor, whereby selective operation of the second latch mechanism to thedevice-connecting condition thereof effects automatic movement of thedoor to the second position thereof and selective operation of the firstlatch mechanism to the door-releasing condition thereof and the secondlatch mechanism to the device-holding condition thereof effectsautomatic movement of the door to the first position thereof.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved doorcontrol mechanism and an improved combination of the type set forth, inwhich the door control mechanism includes a drive connection operativelyconnected to the door, a carrier mounted for movement with respect tothe opening and having thereon for movement therewith a first latchmember and a drive element, a door-driving device for the door controlmechanism and operatively connected to the drive element and having anenergy-storing condition and a door-driving condition, a second latchmember mounted adjacent to the carrier for engagement with the firstlatch member, engagement of the first and second latch members holdingthe door-driving device in the energy-storing condition thereof anddisengagement of the first and second latch members placing thedoordiiving device in the door-driving condition thereof, a third latchmember mounted on the drive connection and movable therewith and afourth latch member mounted adjacent to the carrier for selectiveengagement with the third latch member, engagement of the third andfourth latch members holding the door in the second position thereof anddisengagement of the third and fourth latch members releasing the doorfor movement to the first position thereof.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improvedcombination of the type set forth in which the counterbalance mechanismincludes a torsion bar operatively connected to the door.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improvedcombination of the type set forth in which the counterbalance mechanismincludes a torsion bar operatively connected to the door and serving tocounterbalance the door so that the door is biased toward the closedposition thereof under the urging of gravity.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improvedcombination of the type set forth in which the door control mechanismincludes a door disc operatively connected to the torsion bar forrotation therewith in response to movement of the door.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improveddoor control mechanism and an improved combination of the type set forthin which the door control mechanism includes a first latch memberfixedly connected to the door disc for rotation therewith, a secondlatch member pivotable between a door-holding condition for holding thedoor in the open position thereof and a door-releasing condition, thesecond latch member being normally biased to the door-holding conditionand engageable in the door-holding condition with the first latchmember, the second latch member in the door-releasing condition beingout of operative contact with the first latch member carried by the doordisc thereby to permit free rotation thereof, a counterbalance disc forthe door and having associated therewith an energy-storing device, thecounterbalance disc being operative when connected to' the doorautomatically to move the door from the closed position to the openposition thereof, a third latch member fixedly connected to thecounterbalance disc for rotation therewith, a fourth latch memberpivotable between a counterbalancedisc-connecting condition forconnecting the counterbalance disc to the door to efi'ect automaticopening thereof and a counterbalance-disc-holding condition formaintaining the counterbalance disc out of operative connection with thedoor, the fourth latch member in the counterbalance-discholdingcondition thereof being in operative contact with the third latch memberto prevent rotation of the counterbalancediscconnecting conditionthereof being out of operative contact with the third latch memberthereby to permit rotation of the counterbalance disc.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved doorcontrol mechanism and an improved combination of the type set forth inwhich the door control mechanism includes a trigger selectively operableon the first latch mechanism for operating the first latch mechanismbetween the door-holding condition and the door-releasing conditionthereof and selectively operable on the second latch mechanism foroperating the second latch mechanism between the device-holdingcondition and the device-connecting condition thereof.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved doorcontrol mechanism and an improved combination of the type set forth inwhich the control mechanism includes a selector comprising a pluralityof angularly spaced lugs on the door disc for selectively rendering thetrigger operable to change the condition of only one of the second andfourth latch members at one time to cause positive operation of theselected one of the latch members by the trigger.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved doorcontrol mechanism and an improved combination of the type set forth inwhich the door control mechanism includes a control element disposedadjacent to the associated building and operatively connected to thetrigger to activate the trigger in response to operation of the controlelement upon a wheeled vehicle entering or exiting from the associatedbuilding. j

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved doorcontrol mechanism and an improved combination of the type set forth inwhich the door control mechanism includes controlling elements thereforedisposed in front of the door-receiving opening, the door controlmechanism being operatively connected to the door for accomplishingselective automatic movement thereof between the closed and openpositions of the door, the door control mechanism in the closed positionof the door accommodating both manual opening of the door and automaticopening of the door by actuation of the control element the door controlmechanism in the open position of the door accommodating both manualclosing of the door and automatic closing of the door by actuation ofthe control element after manual opening of the door.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improvedcombination of the type set forth in which the counterbalance mechanismincludes a torsion bar and member journaled thereon for free rotationwith respect thereto, a torsion spring surrounding the torsion bar andfixed at one end thereof to the associated building and fixed at theother end thereof the member, drive means mounted to the torsion bar forrotation therewith and adjustment with respect thereto and operativelyconnected to the member adjustment of the drive means with respect tothe torsion bar rotating the member with respect to the torsion bar toadjust the tension in the torsion spring.

The invention, both as to its organization and method of operation,together with further objects and advantages thereof, will best beunderstood by reference to the following specification taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an automobile in front of a garage having therein agarage door in a door opening therein and including a door controlmechanism incorporating the features of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a rear elevational view of the garage door of FIG. 1 as seenin the direction of the arrows along the line 2-2 thereof;

FIG. 3 is a view partly in section of the garage door of FIG. 2 in aclosed position taken along line 3-3 thereof;

FIG. 4 is a view partly in section of the garage door shown in FIG. 3with the door in an open position;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged rear elevational view of the torsion bar anddoor-opening and closing mechanism shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of the torsion spring and worm drivetherefor of FIG. 5 as seen in the direction of the arrows along line 6-6thereof;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the torsion spring and worm drive thereforof FIG. 6 taken along line 7-7 thereof;

FIG. 8 is a side elevational view with portions in section of the doordisc, the latch .assembly therefor, the trigger associated therewith andthe hydraulic system for moving the trigger of FIG. 5 as seen in thedirection of the arrows along the line 8-8 thereof;

FIG. 9 is a side elevational view of the counterbalance disc and latchtherefor of FIG. 5 as seen in the direction of the arrows along the line9-9 thereof;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the door disc latch particularlyshowing the cam opening therein;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the trigger device particu larlyshowing the placement of the latch cams and including a phantom view ofthe door disc latch showing the spatial relationship between the latchand the trigger;

FIG. 12 is a view in section of the counterbalance disc having a catchthereon in engagement position with the associated latch;

FIGS. 13 to 15 are diagrammatic views showing the relative positions ofthe door disc, the counterbalance disc, the associated catches, pins andlugs thereon, the trigger and the cam openings in the associated latcheswhen the garage door is closed prior to a manual opening thereof;

FIGS. 16 to 18 are diagrammatic views showing the relative positions ofthe discs, trigger and latches after the door has been manually opened;

FIGS. 19 to 21 are diagrammatic views showing the relative positions ofthe discs, trigger and latches when the rear wheels of the automobileare on the actuator;

FIGS. 22 to 24 are diagrammatic views showing the relative position ofthe discs, trigger and latches when the rear wheels of the automobileclear the actuator;

FIGS. 25 to 27 are diagrammatic views showing the relative positions ofthe discs, trigger and latches when the front wheels of the automobileare on the actuator;

FIGS. 28 to 30 are diagrammatic views showing the relative positions ofthe discs, trigger and latches when the front wheels of the automobileclear the actuator and the door is in the automatically closed positionthereof;

FIGS. 31 to 33 are diagrammatic views showing the relative positions ofthe discs, trigger and latches when the front wheels of the automobileare on the actuator and the door begins an automatic opening thereof;

FIGS. 34 to 36 are diagrammatic views showing the relative positions ofthe discs, trigger and latches when the front wheels of the automobileclear the actuator and the door is in an automatically opened positionthereof;

FIGS. 37 to 39 are diagrammatic views showing the relative positions ofthe discs, trigger and latches when the door has been manually closed;and

FIG. 40 is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment for maintainingthe door in an unlatched position after the door has been automaticallyopened.

There is illustrated herein a garage door 110 and door control mechanism200 therefor which accommodates movement of the door 110 between thefirst and second positions thereof, certain of such movements beingmanually effected and others being automatically effected. Asillustrated, the garage door 110 is counterbalanced so that it is urgedto the first or closed position thereof, the door control mechanism 200accommodating manual movement of the door 110 from the first (closed)position to the second (open) position followed by automatic movementthereof from the second (open) to the first (closed) position followedby an automatic movement of the door 110 from the first (closed) to thesecond (opened) position and then followed by a manual movement of thedoor 110 from the second (opened) to the first (closed) position.

With reference to the drawings and particularly FIGS. 1 to 4 thereof,there is shown an automobile having two spacedapart front wheels and twospaced-apart rear wheels 102, the car 100 being positioned on the groundor driveway 103 in front of a garage 105. The garage 105 includes twospacedapart upstanding side walls 106, a slanted roof or top wall 107, afront wall 108 interconnecting the two sidewalls 106 and a backwall (notshown). The front wall 108 has centrally located therein adoor-receiving opening 109, the door opening 109 being of sufficientheight and width to receive therein an appropriate sectional door 110.

The sectional door 110 consists of a plurality of sections 111, foursections 111 being illustrated herein, the sections 111 being identicalin dimension and hingedly fastened one to another by means of aplurality of hinges 112, each of the hinges 112 including two attachmentflanges 113 interconnected by a hinge pin 114, each attachment flange113 of every hinge 112 is connected to an adjacent section 111 of thedoor 110, thereby to hingedly connect the sections 111 of the garagedoor 110 one to another. As particularly shown, each section 111 of thedoor 110 is fastened to the adjacent section 111 by three hinges 112,the hinges 112 being positioned one at each outer edge of the sections111 and one midway between the outermost hinges 112. The door 110 isfurther provided on each of the outer edges thereof adjacent to thebottom of the door with two cable pins 116, the cable pins 116 being fora purpose hereinafter explained; the door 110 further is provided with ahandle 117, the handle 117 being positioned in the center of the secondsection 111 from the bottom of the door 110 only for purposes ofillustration. As is well known in the art, a handle may be positioned onthe inside of the door 110, but is not here shown.

Adjacent to the outer edges of the door-receiving opening 109 in thefront wall 108 of the garage 105 are two tracks 120, the tracks 120being spaced apart a distance slightly in excess of the width of thedoor-receiving opening 109, the tracks 120 each being channel shaped incross section and including two spaced-apart sidewalls 121interconnected by a web 122. The

tracks 120 each include a substantially vertically extending flight 123and a substantially horizontally extending flight 124, the two flights123 and the two flights 124 of the two tracks 120 being generallyparallel one to another, each of the flights 123 and 124 beinginterconnected by an arcuate flight 125. The tracks 120 are connected tothe front wall 108 adjacent the bottom of the garage by the usual means(not shown) and the tracks 120 are connected at the rearmost part of thesubstantially horizontal flight 124 to the garage roof 107 by means ofstruts 126, each of the tracks 120 being provided with an attachmentstrut 126. The substantially vertical flights 123 are somewhatdiagonally inclined toward the rear of the garage 105, i.e., away fromthe front wall 108, and the substantially horizontal flights 124 of thetracks 120 are inclined upwardly toward the top 107 of the garage 105,all to facilitate movement of the door 110 in the tracks 120.

The door 110 is provided with a plurality of roller assemblies 130, theroller assemblies 130 each being shown by way of illustration associatedwith a hinge 112, it being understood that the roller assemblies 130 maybe independently placed, if so desired. Each of the roller assemblies130 includes an L- shaped flange 131 having an abutment portion 132fixedly connected to one of the attachment flanges 113 of the associatedhinge 112, the abutment portion 132 being preferably connected to theflange 113 connected to the upper adjacent section 111 of the door 110,the L-shaped flange 131 further including a transverse portion 133extending outwardly from the section 111 and carrying on the distal endthereof a stub shaft 134 providing a mounting for a wheel 135, each ofthe wheels 135 being so sized as to fit between the sidewalls 121 of thetracks 120. As may be seen from the drawings, the four-section door 110is provided with a total of roller assemblies 130, the roller assemblies130 providing for rolling action of the door 110 from the closedposition thereof to the open position thereof along the tracks 120.

The door 110 is counterbalanced to the closed position, a substantialportion of the weight of the door 110 being counterbalanced by means ofa torsion bar 140 and the hardware associated therewith, the torsion bar140 being a hollow steel tube positioned above the door-receivingopening 109 in the front wall 108 and extending laterally across theopening 109 and spaced slightly above the door 110, all as particularlyshown in FIGS. 2 and 5 of the drawings. The torsion bar 140 issecured'to the front wall 108 of the garage 105 by means of a left-handmounting bracket 141, the bracket 141 including an abutment portion 142extending parallel and fixedly secured to the front wall 108 by means ofbolts 143, the bracket 141 further including at one end thereof atransverse portion 145 extending outward from the front wall 108 andcarrying a bushing 146 therein to facilitate rotation of the torsion bar140 with respect thereto. Abutting the bushing 146 is a cable drum 147fixedly secured to the .torsion bar 140 for rotation therewith, thecable drum 147 having thereabout a plurality of spiral grooves 148 and aflange 149 at the inner end of the drum 147. The drum 147 receives inthe spiral grooves 148 a cable 150, the cable 150 being fixedly securedat one end to the flange 149 of the drum 147 .and on the other end tothe left-hand cable pin 116 fastened adjacent to the bottom of thegarage door 110.

The torsion bar 140 is further secured to the front wall 108 of thegarage 105 by means of a right'hand mounting bracket 151, the bracket151 including an abutment portion 152 extending parallel and fixedlysecured to the front wall 108 by means of bolts 153, the bracket 151further including at one end thereof a transverse portion 155 extendingoutward from the front wall 108 and carrying a bushing 156 therein tofacilitate rotation of the torsion bar 140 with respect thereto.Abutting the bushing 156 is a cable drum 157 fixedly secured to thetorsion bar 140 for rotation therewith, the cable drum 157 havingthereabout a plurality of spiral grooves 158 and a flange 159 at theinner end of the drum 157. The drum 157 receives in the spiral grooves158 a cable 160, the cable 160 being fixedly secured at one end to theflange 159 of the drum 157 and on the other end to the right-hand cablepin 116 fastened adjacent to the bottom of the garage door 110. Thecables 150 and 160 provide the necessary connection between the door andthe torsion bar 140, thereby to translate rotation of the bar 140 intomovement of the door 110 along the tracks between the open position andthe closed position.

If the sectional door 110 is for a two-car garage, then the torsion barwill be provided with two torsion springs positioned thereabout andspaced therealong; however, for the sake of brevity and simplicity, onlyone of the torsion springs 165 is herein illustrated. The torsion spring165 is positioned about the torsion bar 140 and has at the right endthereof, as seen in FIG. 5, a hook 166. An L-shaped bearing bracketincludes an abutment portion 171 extending parallel to and fixedlysecured to the front wall 108 of the garage 105 by means of bolts 172,the bracket 170 further including a transverse portion 173 extendingoutwardly from the front wall 108 toward the rear of the garage 105. Thetransverse portion 173 has therein an aperture 174 for receiving thereinthe hook 166 of the torsion spring 165, thereby to secure one end of thetorsion spring 165 to the garage 105. A bushing 177 extends through thetransverse portion 173 of the bearing bracket 170 to facilitate rotationof the torsion bar 140 with respect to the bracket 170 and to preventcontact between the torsion bar 140 and the torsion spring 165.

At the left-hand end of the torsion spring 165, as particularly seen inFIGS. 5 to 7, there is provided a generally cylindrical worm housing 180positioned about the torsion bar 140, the housing 180 including anoffset body portion 181 forming at the internal ends thereof a shoulder182, the housing 180 being fixedly secured to the torsion bar 140 bysetscrews 183, thereby to provide for rotation of the housing 180 withthe torsion bar 140. Adjacent to the end of the offset portion 181 ofthe housing 180 is a circular groove 184, the groove 184 being for apurpose hereinafter explained, and joumaled to the housing 180 is amember or worm gear 185, the worm gear 185 in the form of a wheel 186carrying about the periphery thereof a plurality of gear teeth 187. Thewheel 186 is integral with and extends outwardly from a collar 188, thecollar 188 being cylindrical and joumaled to the offset body portion 181of the worm housing 180 for rotation with respect thereto, the collar188 abutting the shoulder 182 at one end and being held against axialmovement along the housing 180 by a retaining ring 194 positioned in thecircular groove 184 in the offset portion 181 in the housing 180. Theworm gear 185 is provided with a spring retainer or indent 189 in thewheel 186 adjacent to the collar 188, the indent 189 receiving therein abook (not shown) at the other end of the torsion spring 165, thereby toprevent rotation of the spring 165 with respect to the worm gear 185.There is further provided a worm drive in the form of a hollow shaft195, the shaft having extending therethrough a square socket hole 196and having extending therearound spiral flanges 197. The shaft 195 ispositioned so that the gear teeth 187 are intermediate the spiralflanges 197 and retained in the aforesaid position by a retention flange191 including a transverse wall 192 extending from the worm housing 180and having positioned at either end thereof spaced-apart end flanges193, the end flanges 193 providing radial and axial support for theshaft 195. It is therefore seen that the torsion spring 165 is fixed atone end thereof with respect to the garage 105 at one end by the hook166 and bearing bracket 170 and at the other end the torsion spring 165is prevented against rotation thereof with respect to the worm gear 185by the indent 189; in the worm gear 185. The usual problems of varyingthe tension in the torsion spring 165 are avoided by the noveladjustment structurehereinbefore described. The tension of the torsionspring 165 is simply varied by adjustment, either manually or bymachine, of the shaft 195 thereby to rotate the worm gear 185 and windor unwind the spring 165 fixedly connected thereto, the tension in thetorsion spring 165 being easily adjusted so as to counterbalance thedoor 110 slightly less than the total effective weight of the door 110so that the door 110 will be biased to the closed position by the actionof gravity if the door 110 is released at any point along the tracks 120and unacted upon by other forces. It being understood that thecounterbalance force of the torsion spring 165 is transmitted to thedoor 110 by the torsion bar 140, the worm housing 180, the worm gear185, the drums 147 and 157, the cables 150 and 160 and the cable pins116.

With reference to FIGS. 5, 8-12 and 40 there is shown the door controlmechanism 200. The right-hand end of the torsion bar 140 is providedwith a drive connection or drive sprocket 210; however, while the drivesprocket 210 is located on the right-hand end of the torsion bar 140, asshown in FIG. 5, the sprocket 210 may be also located on the left-handside, it being a mere matter of preference, the drive sprocket 210 beingprovided with teeth 211 about the periphery thereof and suitably mountedon a jack shaft 212. The jack shaft 212 is received within a countersunkportion (not shown) of the torsion bar 140 and held in place forrotation therewith by a clamping collar 213 fixedly secured thereaboutby bolts 214.

Disposed below the drive sprocket 210 is a disc enclosure 220, the discenclosure 220 being mounted on the front wall 108 of the garage 105 andincluding an upstanding left-hand sidewall 221 and an upstandingright-hand sidewall 222, the sidewalls 221 and 222 being spaced apartand joined by a rear wall 223, each of the sidewalls 221 and 222 havinga downwardly extending top edge 226 and a forwardly extending rear edge227 and a horizontally extending bottom edge 228. The sidewalls 221 and222 are of similar shape and parallel to each other, each having thereinan aperture (not shown) in registry one with the other, each of theapertures being surrounded by a support flange 229, the support flanges229 supporting therein a jack shaft 235, the jack shaft 235 preferablybeing made of brass or bronze thereby to avoid the necessity of bushingsin the apertures.

Freely rotatable around the jack shaft 235 is a carrier or a door disc240, the door disc 240 being positioned with the plane of rotationthereof perpendicular to the front wall 108 of the garage 105 andincluding a hub 241 positioned about the jack shaft 235 thereby toposition the door disc 240 against excessive lateral movement along theshaft 235. The door disc 240 has around the periphery thereof aplurality of teeth 242, the number of teeth 242 being about six timesthe number of teeth 211 on the drive sprocket 210, the ratio of 6 to Ibeing for a purpose hereinafter explained, and interconnecting the doordisc 240 and the drive sprocket 210 is a link chain 243, the link chain243 engaging the teeth 242 on the door disc 240 and the teeth 211 on thedrive sprocket 210. It will be seen therefore that rotation of thetorsion bar 140 upon movement of the door 110 along the tracks 120produces similar rotation of the drive sprocket 210. The number ofrevolutions of the door disc 240 per one complete opening or closing ofthe door 110 is controlled by the ratio of the teeth 211 on the sprocket210 to the teeth 242 on the door disc 240, the ratio being so chosen asto limit the door disc 240 to less than one complete revolution per eachcomplete opening or closing of the door 110, preferably the door disc240 rotating about 270.

On the inside of the door disc 240, or on the right-hand side thereof asviewed in FIG. 5 there is positioned a catch 245, the

catch 245 being positioned radially outwardly adjacent to the teeth 242of the door disc 240 and having an attachment surface 246 connected tothe door disc 240 by means of bolts 247 and having an offset portion 248spaced from the door disc 240. The offset portion 248 has a cammingsurface 249 on the end of the catch 245 away from the attachment surface246 and also an abutment surface 250 away from the attachment surface246, the edge of the catch 245 forming the abutment surface 250extending along a radius of the door disc 240. There is also provided onthe inside of the door disc 240 a release lug 252, the release lug 252being radially positioned away from the periphery of the disc 240 towardthe center of the door disc 240 so as not to interfere with otherstructure hereinafter explained, the lug 252 having an abutment surface252a, the abutment surface 252a being formed by an edge of the lug 252extending along a radius of the door disc 240, the angle between theabutment surface 250 of the catch 245 and the abutment surface 252a ofthe lug 252 being less than 270 for the constructional examplehereinafter set forth. Positioned between the catch 245 and the lug 252is a lug 253, the lug 253 being radially positioned from the center ofthe door disc 240 identically to the lug 252, the lug 253 having anabutment surface 253a formed by an edge of the lug 253 extending along aradius of the disc 240, the abutment surface 252a and the abutmentsurface 253a forming a selector selectively to operate certain parts ashereinafter explained. Radially outwardly of the lug 253 and secured tothe disc 240 is a drive lug 255, the drive lug 255 being positionedbetween the lug 252 and the catch 245 so as not to interfere with otherstructure hereinafter defined and being spaced radially outwardly fromthe lugs 252 and 253 so as not to interfere with their operation. Ashereinbefore stated, since the door disc 240 rotates less than onecomplete revolution for each door opening or door closing, the drive lug255 also rotates through less than one complete revolution, thereby, inthe particular constructional example illustrated in the drawings, thedrive lug 255 rotates through a 270 are between a door-closed positionand a door-open position, so as not to interfere with the operation ofthe structure cooperating with the catch 245.

Movement of the door along the tracks results in rotation of the torsionbar and thereby the drive sprocket 210. The door disc 240 is connectedto the drive sprocket 210 by means of the chain 243 operativelyassociated with the teeth 211 on the drive sprocket 210 and the teeth242 on the door disc 240, thereby to translate rotation of the torsionbar 140 into rotation of the door disc 240, the ratio of the number ofteeth 242 on the door disc 240 to the number of teeth 211 on the drivesprocket 210 being sufficiently large so as to provide for less than onecomplete revolution of the door disc 240 for each complete opening orclosing of the door 110.

There is further provided a door-driving device or a counterbalance disc260 fixedly secured to the jack shaft 235, such as by set screws (notshown), the counterbalance disc 260 being positioned parallel to thedoor disc 240 and rotatable about a common axis, the disc 260 includinga hub 261 positioned at the center of the counterbalance disc 260 aboutthe jack shaft 235, or to the left of the disc 260 as seen in FIG. 5,the hub 261 preventing excessive lateral movement of the disc 260 alongthe jack shaft 235. There is further provided, at the periphery of thecounterbalance disc 260 on the right-hand side thereof, as seen in FIG.5, a flange 262 having an attachment surface 263 fixedly secured to thecounterbalance disc 260 and an offset portion 264 forming a cable groovebetween the offset portion 264 and the counterbalance disc 260, theflange 262 thereby providing a groove for a cable for a purposehereinafter explained. The counterbalance disc 260 further includes acatch 265 positioned on the inside of the disc 260 opposite to theflange 262, the catch 265 being radially spaced from the center ofrotation of the counterbalance disc 260 the same distance as the catch245. The catch 265 includes an attachment surface 266 fixedly secured tothe counterbalance disc 260 by bolts 267 and an offset portion 268spaced from the counterbalance disc 260, the offset portion 268 having acamming surface 269 and an abutment surface 270, the abutment surface270 being formed by an edge of the catch 265 extending along a radius ofthe disc 260. The counterbalance disc 260 is further provided with astop pin 273 adjacent to the periphery of the disc 260 at apredetermined angular location, as will hereinafter be explained, andwith a latch cam pin 274, as seen in FIG. 40, for a purpose hereinafterexplained, the latch cam pin 274 being positioned adjacent to theperiphery of the counterbalance disc 260 and at a predetermined anglecounterclockwise from the abutment surface 270 of the catch 265, for apurpose hereinafter explained. The counterbalance disc 260 furtherincludes a drive lug 275, the drive lug 275 being radially positionedfrom the center of the counterbalance disc 260 so as to contact thedrive lug 255 on the door disc 240 when the drive pin 275 and the drivelug 255 are operatively connected, the drive pin 275 extendingtransversely of the counterbalance disc 260 for a distance sufficient tocontact the drive lug 255 when the lug 255 and the pin 275 are inoperative association.

The counterbalance disc 260 is further provided with an energy-storingdevice in the form of a spring 276, the spring 276 being connected atone end to a cable 277 fitting in the cable groove 264 and secured tothe counterbalance disc 260; at the other end, the spring 276 isconnected to the front wall 108 of the garage 105 as at 278, as seen inFIG. 4. The force exerted by the spring 276 on the counterbalance disc260 biases the disc 260 to rotate in the clockwise direction as seen inFIG. 9, the force exerted by the spring 276 being sufficient when addedto the force exerted on the door 110 by the torsion bar 140 and spring165 to drive the door 110 from the closed position to the open positionthereof. It may be seen therefore that when the spring 276 is out ofoperative connection with the door 110, the door 110 is biased towardthe closed position thereof due to the fact that the force exertedthereon by the torsion bar 140 and the spring 165 is slightly less thanthe effective weight of the door 110, but when the spring 276 isoperatively connected to the door 110, then the combined forces of thespring 276, the torsion bar 140 and spring 165 are sufiicient toovercome the effective weight of the door 110, thereby to raise the door110 from the closed position to the opened position thereof and tomaintain the door 110 in the opened position.

As best seen in FIGS. 8 to 12, there is provided a door disc latch 280,the door disc latch 280 being generally channelshaped and having anouter sidewall 281 adjacent to the door disc 240 and an inner sidewall282 spaced from the outer sidewall 281 and generally parallel thereto,interconnecting the sidewalls 281 and 282 is a web 283, the web 283being disposed generally horizontally. The door disc latch 280 may betapered with the narrowest part adjacent to the rear wall 223 of thedisc enclosure 220 of the latch 280 may be uniform in width, as shown,the door disc latch 280 having at the front end thereof near the frontwall 108 of the garage 105 aligned apertures 284 in each of thesidewalls 281 and 282, and toward the rear end of the latch 280, that isaway from the front wall 108 of the garage 105, there is a latch pin 285rotatably mounted on a pin extending between the sidewalls 281 and 282,the offset portion 248 of the catch 245 fitting between the sidewalls281 and 282 of the latch 280 to provide for contact between the catch245 and latch pin 285. The door disc latch 280 is pivotally mounted tothe left-hand sidewall 221 of the disc enclosure 220 by a pivot 286extending through the aligned apertures 284 in the sidewalls 281 and2820f the latch 280, thereby to provide up and down pivotal movement ofthe latch 280. The latch 280 is biased in an upward position by means ofa spring 287 connected at one end to a tongue 288 extending fromtherearwall 223 of the disc enclosure 220 and at the other end, the spring287 is connected to the latch 280 thereby to bias the latch 280 to ahorizontal position. There is further provided on the wall 221 a stoplug 289, the lug 289 being positioned to engage a stop pin 254 on thedoor disc 240, for a purpose hereinafter explained.

In an alternate embodiment of the door disc latch 280, there is provideda transversely extending flange 291, as seen in FIG. 40, extending fromthe inner sidewall 282 of the latch 280 toward the counterbalance disc260, the flange 291 having upwardly extending therefrom a cammingsurface 292 for operative camming contact with the latch cam pin 274 onthe counterbalance disc 260, all for a purpose hereinafter explained.The alternate embodiment of the door disc latch 280 obviates thenecessity for the stop lug 289 and the associated stop pin on the doordisc 240 in the first embodiment. The purpose of these two structures isto prevent the door 110 from being locked in the open position after thedoor 110 has been automatically opened, thereby to allow the door to beclosed without activation of the door disc latch 280, all as hereinafterexplained.

The door disc latch 280 further includes a cam opening 295, the camopening 295 being positioned toward the rear of the latch 280, that isto the left as seen in FIG. 8, the cam opening 295 being generallyL-shaped and having an abutment surface 296, a lower leg 297 and aforwardly extending leg 298. Positioned adjacent to the forwardlyextending leg 298 of the cam opening 295 is a pawl 320, the pawl 320being pivotally mounted on the inner wall 282 of the latch 280 as by apivot 321, the pawl 320 having an end abutment surface 322 extendinginto the forward leg 298 of the cam opening 295, the pawl 320 havingassociated therewith a rest pin 323 positioned below the pawl 320,thereby normally to maintain the pawl 320 in the horizontal position,the pin 323 being fixedly secured to the wall 282 of the latch 280.

Parallel to and spaced from the door disc latch 280 is a counterbalancedisc latch 300, the counterbalance disc latch 300 being generallychannel-shaped and having an outer sidewall 301 adjacent to thecounterbalance disc 260 and an inner sidewall 302 spaced from andparallel to the outer sidewall 301; interconnecting the sidewalls 301and 302 is a web 303, the web 303 being generally disposed horizontally.Toward the front of the counterbalance disc latch 300, that is to theleft as viewed in FIG. 9, there is an aperture 304 in each of thesidewalls 301 and 302, the apertures 304 being aligned to receive apivot 306 to provide for up and down movement of the latch 300, thepivot 306 being connected to the righthand wall 222 of the discenclosure 220. Toward the rear of the latch 300, there is a latch pin305 freely rotatably mounted on a pivot between the walls 301 and 302,the latch pin 305 being normally positioned in alignment with latch pin285 when the latch 280 and the latch 300 are horizontally disposed. Thelatch 300 is biased to a horizontal position by a spring 307, the spring307 being connected at one end to a tongue 308 extending from the rearwall 223 of the disc enclo' sure 220 and at the other end, the spring307 is connected to the latch 300. There is further provided on the wall222 a stop lug 309, the stop lug 309 cooperating in its operativeposition with the stop pin 273 on the counterbalance disc 260, therebyto halt clockwise rotation of the counterbalance disc 260 before thecatch 245 on the door disc 240 latches with the latch pin 285 on thedoor disc latch 280, thereby to lock the door into an open positionafter an automatic opening thereof, all as hereinafter explained. Thestop pin 273 and the stop lug 309 are not required if the alternateembodiment of the latch 280 shown in FIG. 40 is employed.

Toward the rear of the inner wall 302 of the latch 300 is a cam opening315, the cam opening 315 being generally spaced across from the camopening 295 in the door disc latch 280, the cam opening 315 beingpositioned differently as hereinafter explained. The cam opening 315 inthe latch 300 is generally L-shaped and has an abutment surface 316, alower leg 317 and a rearwardly extending leg 318. It is here noted thatthe cam opening 315 has a leg 318 extending to the rear of the latch300, that is away from the front wall 108 of the garage 105, while thedoor disc latch 280 has a cam opening 295 therein which has a leg 298extending toward the front of the latch 280, that is toward the frontwall 108 of the garage 105, the two cam openings 295 and 315 being sopositioned and aligned for a purpose hereinafter explained.

As stated before, the door disc latch 280 is generally parallel to andspaced apart from the counterbalance latch 300, and there is. providedtherebetween an actuator or a trigger 325, the trigger 325 selectivelyoperating the latches 280 and 300 and being disposed also between thedoor disc 240 and the counterbalance disc 260, the trigger 325 includinga vertically extending body portion 327 in the form of a slab disposedgenerally parallel to the sidewalls of the latches 280 and 300. At thebottom end of the body portion 327 is a pivot hole 326 and at the top ofthe body portion 327 of the trigger 325 is a leaf spring 328 extendingupwardly from the body portion 327, the leaf spring 328 terminating atits upper end in a cam follower 330 in the form of a split cylinder, thecam follower 330 being in position to be moved by contact with theabutment surfaces 252a and 253a for a purpose hereinafter set forth.Spaced below the leaf spring 328 and extending outward therefrom at a 90angle to the body portion 327 of the trigger 325 is a door disc latchcam 335, the door disc latch cam 335 having two parallel and opposedsidewalls 336, a top wall 337 and a bottom wall 338. Extending at anangle of 90 outward from the body portion 327 of the trigger 325 is acounterbalance disc latch cam 340, the cam 340 extending at an angle of180 from the cam 335, the cam 340 including two spaced-apart sidewalls341, a top wall 342, and a bottom wall 343. The cam 340 and the cam 335are positioned at the same vertical point along the trigger 325, thecams 335 and 340 respectively fitting within and extending through thecam openings 295 and 315 in the respective latches 280 and 300.

It will be seen therefore that when the latches 280 and 300 are in theirnormal horizontal position, the abutment surfaces 250 and 270 of thecatches 245 and 265 will be in contact with the latchpins 285 and 305 ofthe associated latches 280 and 300 if the door disc 240 or thecounterbalance disc 260 is in the proper angular position. When thelatches 280 and 300 are depressed out of their normal horizontalposition, then the discs 240 and 260 may rotate without contacting thelatches 285 and 305. The latch 280 is therefore pivotable between adoor-holding condition in which the latch pin 285 is in operativecontact with the abutment surface 250 of the catch 245 thereby tomaintain the door 110 against movement thereof and a door-releasingcondition when the latch pin 285 is out of operative contact with thecatch 245 thereby to allow movement of the door 110 in the tracks 120between the above mentioned first and second positions. The latch 300 isalso therefore pivotable between a device orcounterbalance-discconnecting condition in which the latch pin 305 isout of operative connection with the catch 265 thereby to operativelyconnect the spring 276 to the door 110 and effect movement thereof fromthe closed to the open position thereof and a device orcounterbalance-disc-holding condition in which the catch 265 is inoperative connection with the latch pin 305, thereby to hold the spring276 in the energy-storing position thereof out of operative connectionwith the door 110; the device-holding condition of the latch 300 mayalso be termed as energy-storing condition due to the energy-storingcondition of the spring 276 when the disc 260 is held against rotationthereof. When the trigger 325 is in the position shown in FIG. 8, thecams 335 and 340 are positioned within the associated cam openings 295and 315, but are not in contact with any of the surfaces defined therebyand the cam follower 330 is in position to be contacted by the selectorformed of either the abutment surface 252a of the release lug 252 or theabutment surface 253a of the release lug 253 to bias the cam follower330 toward or away from the front wall 108, thereby to move the cams 335and 340 in the cam openings 295 and 315, respectively.

Vertical, that is both up and down, displacement of the trigger 325 maybe achieved by a plurality of means well known in the art; for instance,the trigger 325 may be operatively connected to a solenoid with may bekey actuated or radio control actuated, operation of which would producevertical displacement of the trigger, but in the drawings there is showna hydraulic device 350 for operating the trigger 325. The hydraulicdevice 350 includes a cylinder 351 having sealably and slidably disposedtherewithin a piston 352. A spring 353 is positioned between the bottomof the cylinder 351 and the piston 352, tb reby to bias the piston 352towards the top of the cylinder 351, the piston 352 having extendingupwardly therefrom a stern 354 containing therein a pivot 355 extendingthrough the pivot hole 326 in the body portion 327 of the trigger 325,thereby operatively to connect the piston 352 with the trigger 325, asuitable fitting 356 being disposed about the piston stem 354 thereby toseal the hydraulic fluid 366 in the cylinder 351. The cylinder 35] isfurther provided with an aperture 360 therein, the aperture 360 beingsurrounded by a suitable fitting 361 exterior of the cylinder 351 andsealably connected to an elbow 362, thereby to provide a sealedconnection between the cylinder 351 and the elbow 362. Connected to theelbow 362 is a flexible hose 363, the hose 363 extending downwardly fromthe hydraulic cylinder 351 and out ofthe garage 105, as shown in H0. 1,to a control element or an actuator 365 extending transversely acrossthe driveway 103, thereby to be contacted by the front wheels 101 andthe rear wheels 102 of the automobile as it proceeds into or out of thegarage 105. It being seen that the introduction of hydraulic fluid intothe cylinder 351 by depression of the actuator 365 will force the piston352 downwardly thereby carrying therewith the trigger 325 and hence theassociated cams 335 and 340. Upon release of the actuator 365 by removalof the wheels 101 or 102 of the automobile 100, hydraulic fluid 366 isforced out of the cylinder 351 by the action of the spring 353 againstthe piston 352 thereby raising the trigger 325 to its normal positionand thereby also the cam follower 330 and the lugs 335 and 340.

The operation of the door through a complete cycle consisting of amanual door opening, followed by an automatic door closing, followed byan automatic door opening, followed by a manual door closing willhereinafter be explained. As an example of the structure described abovethe door 110 may be 7 feet in height and the disc 240 be adapted torotate through 270 for a complete door-opening or a completedoor-closing by making the number of teeth 242 on the disc 240 six timesgreater than the number of teeth 211 on th sprocket 210. The angular andradial position of the lugs 252, 253 and 255 depend on the degree ofrotation of the disc 240, the position of the catch 245 and the camfollower 330. it being understood that certain angles, such as the 90angle between the abutment surfaces 252a and 253a and others hereinafterdescribed are variable depending upon the angle through which the doordisc 240 rotates for one complete opening or closing operation. In theparticular example, there is about a 7 angular difference betweenthe-abutment surface 250 of the catch 245 and tile camming surface 249of the catch 245. This 7 difference is important in preventing the doordisc 240 from being latched when the door 110 has been automaticallyopened. As hereinbefore stated there are shown two structures to preventthe door disc 240 from being latched when the door 110 is beingautomatically opened. With the first embodiment, the stop pin 273 on thecounterbalance disc 260 is located about 263 in the counterclockwisedirection from the abutment surface of the stop 309, that is when thecounterbalance disc 260 has rotated 263 in the clockwise direction, asviewed in FIG. 9, the stop pin 273 contacts the stop 309 tlereby toprevent further rotation of the counterbalance disc 260. The drive pin275 is so located on the counterbalance disc 260 that when the door 110is to be automatically opened by release, as hereinafter explained, byrotation of the counterbalance disc 260, the drive pin 275 immediatelycontacts the drive lug 255 on the door disc 240 and carries the doordisc 240 with the counterbalance disc 260. It may be seen therefore,that when the stop pin 273 has rotated through an angle of 263 itcontacts the stop lug 309 to halt rotation of the counterbalance disc260 and since the door disc 240 has also rotated through an angle of 263the catch 245 will also have been rotated through an angle of 263,thereby to position the camming surface 249 of the catch 245 on thelatch pin 285 rather than having the catch 245 pass the pin 285 andhaving the abutment surface 250 positioned against the latch pin 285, asin FIG. 13.

The alternate embodiment shown in F IO. 40 also provides for the catch245 to be unlatched when the door 110 has been automatically opened. Inthis embodiment, tb camming sur face 292 on the flange 291 is contactedby the latch cam pin 274 when the counterbalance disc has rotatedthrough 263' of rotation, thereby to depress the latch 280 and toprevent contact of the abutment surface 250 of the catch 245 with thelatch pin 285 carried by the latch 280 and to prevent latching of thedoor disc 240 thereby. 1n the first example, the door 110 is stoppedbefore it is in the fully opened position during an automatic openingoperation while in the second example or embodiment the door 110 isfully opened, but the latch 280 is depressed during the last 7 ofrotation of the door disc 240 to prevent contact of the abutment surface250 of the catch 245 with the latch pin 285 of the latch 280, the latterembodiment is preferred.

With reference to the diagrammatic views shown in FIGS. 13 to 39,inclusive, FIGS. 13, 16, 19, 22, 25, 28, 31, 34 and 37 show the angularrelationship between the door disc 240 and the counterbalance disc 260at various times in the door opening and closing cycles, the discs 240and 260 are viewed from the left of the disc enclosure 220 as seen inFIG. 5. Therefore, the door disc 240 is viewed from one side in theabove-mentioned series of figures and it is viewed from the other sidein FIG. 8, thereby rotation of the disc 240 in a clockwise direction inthe diagrammatic views corresponds to a counterclockwise rotation of thedisc 240 in FIG. 8. The disc 260 is viewed from the same side in theaforementioned diagrammatic views as in FIG. 9, and thereby clockwiserotation in the aforementioned diagrammatic views corresponds toclockwise rotation in FIG. 9. FIGS. 14, 17, 20, 23, 26, 29, 32, 35 and38 in the diagrammatic views show the angular relationship between thelugs 252 and 253 and the cam follower 330 connected to the trigger 325.Since the door disc 240 is viewed from the left-hand side as seen inFIG. in the last above mentioned diagrammatic views and the door disc240 as viewed from the right-hand side as seen in FIG. 8, the positionsof the lugs are reversed, the views being no more than a mirror image,thereby clockwise rotation of the disc 240 in the diagrammatic viewscorresponds to counterclockwise rotation of the disc 240 in FIG. 8.FIGS. 15, 18, 21, 24, 29, 30, 33, 36 and 39 in the diagrammatic viewsshow.the relationship of the cam openings 295 and 315 in the latches 280and 300, respectively, with the cam lugs 335 and 340 connected to thetrigger 325, the cam opening 295 being viewed from the left side of thedisc enclosure 220 as is the door disc 240 in the diagrammatic views,thereby the forwardly extending leg 298 of the cam opening 295 points tothe left in the diagrammatic views whereas the leg 298 points to theright in FIG. 8. The cam opening 315 shown in phantom in thediagrammatic views has the rearward extending leg 318 extending to theright in the diagrammatic views corresponding to the direction thereofin FIG. 9.

FIGS. I3, 14 and 15 show the angular and spatial relationships betweenthe door disc 240, the counterbalance disc 260, the trigger 325, thelatch 280 and the latch 300 after the door 110 has been manually closedand before the door 110 is manually opened. In these diagrammatic views,the biasing of the cam follower 330 to the right, as shown in FIG. 14,corresponds to biasing the cam follower 330 toward the rear of thegarage 105, that is away from the front wall 108 as shown in FIG. 8. Theangular positions of the discs 240 and 260 in FIGS. 8 and 9 correspondto the angular positions of the discs 240 and 260 in the diagrammaticview 13, whereby it is seen that the biasing of the lugs 335 and 340 tothe right as seen in FIG. 15 corresponds to a biasing of the lug 335 and340 toward the rear of the garage 105 as shown in FIG. 8. When the door110 is in the closed position, the catch 245 is disengaged from thelatch 285 and the abutment surface 252a of the lug 252 contacts the camfollower 330 and biases the trigger 325 to the right as shown in thediagrammatic views. The catch 265 on the counterbalance disc 260 ispositioned so that abutment surface 270 of the catch 265 contacts thelatch pin 305 of the latch 300, thereby to prevent rotation of thecounterbalance disc 260 in the clockwise direction due to the spring 277being extended and exerting a force on the disc 260. The trigger 325 isin its uppermost position thereby to position the lugs 335 and 340 insubstantially the vertical center of the lug openings 295 and 315,respectively, and slightly above the abutment surfaces 296 and 316,respectively.

With reference to FIGS. 16 to 18, inclusive, upon a manual opening ofthe garage door 110, rotation of the torsion bar 140 and thereby thedrive sprocket 210 rotates the door disc 240 through 270 until thecamming surface 249 of the catch 245 contacts the latch pin 285, therebyto depress the latch 280 so that the catch 245 may pass thereby. Afterthe camming surface 249 has passed the latch pin 285, the latch 280returns to its biased position due to the spring 287, thereby to contactthe abutment surface 250 of the catch 245 and to prevent rotation of thedoor disc 240 in the counterclockwise direction and thereby to latch thedoor 110 in the open position, it being remembered that the door disc240 is always operatively connected to the door 110 and rotation of thedisc 240 always corresponds to movement of the door 110 in the tracks120. The counterbalance disc 2601s maintained in the position shown inFIG. 13 due to the latch pin 305 being in contact with the abutmentsurface 270 of the catch265,

thereby to prevent clockwise rotation of the disc 260, the rotation ofthe door disc 240 not affecting the counterbalance disc 260 because thedisc 240 is journaled for free rotation about the jack shaft 235 and thedrive lug 255 on the door disc 240 rotates away from the drive pin 275thereby not to contact the same. Rotation of the disc 240 through270causing the lugs 253 and 252 to assume the positions shown in FIG.17, wherein the abutment surface 253a of the lug 253 contacts the camfollower 330 of the trigger 325 thereby to bias the trigger 325 to theleft as seen in FIG. 17. Due to the angular position of the lug 253 andabutment surface 253a thereon, the latch pin 335 abuts the abutmentsurface 322 of the pawl 320 and is prevented from further movement tothe left of the cam opening 295, as seen in FIG. 18, by the pawl 320, itbeing noted that the cams 335 and 340 are in the approximate verticalcenter of the cam openings 295 and 315 respectively, but above theabutment surfaces 206 and 316, due to the fact that the trigger 325 isin its uppermost position. When the door 110 has been manually opened,the abutment surface 250 of the catch 245 is in contact with the latchpin 285 and serves to prevent the door 110 from closing due to theaction of gravity as it normally would, the door 110 being biased to theclosed position thereof because the tension in the torsion spring 165 isadjusted to produce a force slightly less than the effective weight ofthe door 1 10 thereby to cause the door 110 to close upon the releasethereof; however, the operative condition of the latch mechanismincluding the abutment surface 250 of the catch 245 with the latch pin285 prevents the closing of the door 110 because the door 110 isoperatively connected through the torsion bar 140, the drive sprocket210 and chain 243 to the door disc 240.

With reference to FIGS. 19 to 21, as the automobile is backed out of thegarage 105, the rear wheels 102 back onto the actuator 365 therebycausing hydraulic fluid 366 to force the piston 352 downwardly in thecylinder 351, and to carry the trigger 325 downwardly to the positionshown in FIG. 20; however, since the latch cams 335 and 340 arepositioned so that they are pulled down into the lower legs 297 and 317of the cam openings 295 and 315, respectively, the downward movement ofthe trigger 325 has no effect on the position of thedoor disc 240 andthe counterbalance disc 260 and thereby no effect on the position of thedoor 110.

With reference to FIGS. 22 to 24, as the rear wheels 102 of theautomobile 100 clear the actuator 365, the spring 353 in the cylinder351 forces the piston 352 upwardly thereby to move the trigger 325upwardly to the position it occupied in FIG. 20. Since the lug 253 is inthe same position in FIG. 23 as it is in FIG. 20 the cam 330 and therebythe trigger 325 will be biased to the left as the trigger 325 rises toits upward position and the door disc latch cam 335 will rise underneaththe pawl 320, thereby pivoting the pawl 320 about the pivot 321 so thatthe door disc latch cam 335 will be positioned on the abutment surface296 of the cam opening 295. It is seen, therefore, that the differencein the positions of the door disc latch cam 335 between FIGS. 18 and 24is due not to a difference in the angular position of the door disc 240or the vertical position of the trigger 325, but due to the fact that atrigger action has intervened which allows the door disc latch cam 335to approach the pawl 320 from the underside thereof, thereby to pivotthe pawl 320 about the pivot 32] and position the door disc latch cam335 on the abutment surface 296 of the cam opening 295.

With reference to FIGS. to 27, when the front wheels 101 of theautomobile 100 back onto the actuator 365, the trigger 325 is moveddownwardly as hereinbefore described, and because the door disc latchcam 335 is not positioned on the abutment surface 296, the door disclatch 280 is pivoted downwardly out of the horizontal position againstthe biasing of the spring 287. When the door disc latch 280 has beenpivoted downwardly due to the action of the trigger 325 in response tothe action of the actuator 365, the latch pin 285 is carried away fromthe abutment surface 250 of the catch 245 and the door 110 which isbiased to the closed position now being free to move in the tracks 120because the disc 240 can rotate, will close, thereby causing the doordisc 240 to rotate through -270to assume the angular position shown inFIG. 13 and FIG. 8. The counterbalance disc 260 does not move from theposition it has heretofore assumed because depression of the trigger 325has no effect on the counterbalance disc latch 300 due to the fact thatthe counterbalance disc latch cam 340 is positioned in the lower leg 317of the cam opening 315 in the latch 300 and thereby, the latch pin 305remaining in contact with the abutment surface 270 of the catch 265 toprevent rotation of the counterbalance disc 260 in a clockwisedirection.

With reference to FIGS. 28 to 30, when the front wheels 101 of theautomobile 100 clear the actuator 365, the trigger 325 is moved upwardsto its nonnal position, thereby to position the cam follower 330 so asto be biased to the right by the abutment surface 252a of the lug 252 onthe door disc 240 as shown in FIG. 29, and also in FIG. 13, thereby tomove the door disc latch cam 335 and the counterbalance disc latch cam340 to the right, as shown in FIG. 30, so that the counterbalance disclatch cam 240 rests on the abutment surface 316 of the cam opening 315,all as shown in FIG. 13. It is here noted that the position of the discs240 and 260, and the cams 335 and 340 are the same when the door 110 isclosed, whether by a manual operation or an automatic operation.

With reference to FIGS. 31 to 33, when the automobile 100 approaches thegarage 105, the front wheels 10] hit the actuator 365, thereby movingthe trigger 325 downwardly, as shown in FIGS. 32 and 33. Since thecounterbalance disc latch cam 340 is positioned on the abutment surface316, downward movement of the trigger 325 results in pivotal movement ofthe latch 300 about the pin 306, thereby causing disengagement of theabutment surface 270 of the catch 265 with the latch pin 305 to permitrotation of the counterbalance disc 260 in the clockwise direction dueto the force exerted thereon by the spring 276 which has been undertension. With the drive pin 275, the drive lug 255 and the stop pin 273angularly positioned as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, as the counterbalancedisc 260 rotates in the clockwise direction, the drive pin 275 contactsthe drive lug 255, thereby to carry the door disc 240 and thereby thedoor 110 operatively connected thereto in a clockwise direction through263 of rotation before the stop pin 273 hits the stop lug 309. If, asexplained hereinbefore, the alternate embodiment of FIG. 40 is employed,the discs 240 and 260 will rotate a full 270 to the automatically openedposition because the latch 280 will be depressed due to the flange 291,cam surface 292 and latch cam pin 274 to prevent the latch roller 285from engaging the catch 245.

It is here noted that when the door 110 has been automatically openedthere is no need to latch the door 110 in the open position to preventthe closing thereof due to gravity, as is needed after a manual openingbecause the added force of spring 276 is sufficient with the torsion bar140 and spring 165 to maintain the door 110 open. Actually it isdesirable not to latch the door 110 after an automatic opening thereofto allow a manual closing thereof without the necessity of releasing thelatch 280 and catch 245, there being shown herein two embodiments forpreventing such latching, that shown in FIGS. 8, 9 and the diagrammaticviews and that shown in FIG. 40.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 31, after an automatic door opening, thedoor disc 240 is positioned with the camming surface 249 of the catch245 in contact with, or close to, the latch pin 285 of the latch 280,thereby preventing latching of the door 110 in the open position whilethe counterbalance disc 260 has rotated through an angle somewhat lessthan 270, thereby to position the catch 265 in the position shown. Thelugs 253 and 252 have rotated with the door disc 240 to the positionshown, the position of lug 253 being several degrees away from theposition it would assume if the door had been manually opened with thecatch 245 locked against the latch 285 as seen in FIG. 13.

With reference to FIGS. 34 to 36, when the front wheels 101 of theautomobile clear the actuator 365, the piston 352 in the cylinder 351 ismoved upwardly by action of the spring 353 to position the cam follower330 in the position shown in FIG. 35. As will be noticed, due to thedisplacement of cam 253, the spring 328 and cam follower 330 is notbiased to the right as shown in FIG. 17 when the door has been manuallyopened, but rather the trigger 325 is unbiased and the cams 335 and 340assume the position as shown. There is no movement of either the doordisc 240 or the counterbalance disc 260 during the upward movement ofthe trigger 325 as the front wheels 101 clear the actuator 365.

The door is thereafter manually closed and in so doing, the door disc240 and the counterbalance disc 260 are rotated in a counterclockwisedirection to a final position shown in FIG. 37 due to the movement ofthe door 110 to the closed position and the transmittal of that movementthrough the torsion bar and drive sprocket 210 to the door disc 240, thecounterbalance disc 260 being carried in the counterclockwise directionby the contact between the drive lug 255 and the drive pin 275. It isseen, therefore, that it is necessary to have the drive pin 275 and thedrive lug 255 abutting when the door 110 is in the closed position, sothat during a manual closing of the door, the drive lug 255 moves thecounterbalance disc 260 in the counterclockwise direction to extend thespring 276 and to position the abutment 270 of the catch 265 in latchingposition with the latch pin 305 of the latch 300. The latch 300 beingdepressed when the camming surface 269 of the catch 265 contacts thelatch pin 305 and the latch 300 being raised to the normal or horizontalposition by the spring 307 after the catch 265 has passed thereby toassume the latching position with the latch pin 305 in contact with theabutment surface 270 of the catch 265. After this operation, the doordisc 240 and the counterbalance disc 260 are in the same positions asshown in FIG. 13, and the door 110 is ready for a manual opening thereofas hereinbefore explained.

The invention hereinbefore set forth is readily adaptable to bemanufactured in a kit form, the kit including, for instance, all themechanism carrying a reference numeral 200 or greater.

In view of the foregoing, it is apparent that there has been provided animproved door control mechanism and an im proved combination for usewith an associated building having a door-receiving opening therein forshiftably and pivotally operating a sectional door between the closedposition and the open position thereof. While there has been describedwhat is at present considered to be the preferred embodiment of theinvention, it will be understood that various modifications may be madetherein and it is intended to cover in the appended claims all suchmodifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. The combination for use with an associated building having adoorreceiving opening therein, said combination comprising: first andsecond tracks for attachment to the associated building respectivelyadjacent to the sides of the door-receiving opening, a sectional doorhaving a plurality of rollers mounted thereon and engageable in saidtracks for movement of said door between a first position with respectto the opening and a second position with respect to the opening,counterbalance mechanism for mounting on the associated buildingadjacent to the door-receiving opening to counterbalance said door sothat said door is biased toward the first position thereof, and doorcontrol mechanism for mounting on the associated building andoperatively connected to said door, said door mechanism including meansselectively operable between a door-holding condition for holding saiddoor against the biased first position thereof and a door-releasingcondition permitting movement of said door to the first position thereoffor accommodating manual movement of said door from said first positionto said second position followed by automatic movement of said door fromsaid second position to said first position followed by an automaticmovement of said door from said first position to said second positionand then followed by a manual movement of said door from said secondposition to said first position.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1, wherein said second position ofsaid door is an open position with respect to the opening and said firstposition of said door is a closed position with respect to the opening.

3. The combination for use with an associated building having adoor-receiving opening therein, said combination comprising first andsecond tracks for attachment to the associated building respectivelyadjacent to the sides of the door-receiving opening, a sectional doorhaving a plurality of rollers mounted thereon and engageable in saidtracks for movement of said door between a first position and a secondposition with respect to the opening, counterbalance mechanism formounting on the associated building adjacent to the doorreceivingopening to counterbalance said door so that said door is biased towardthe first position thereof, a door control mechanism for mounting on theassociated building and including a drive connection operativelyconnected to said door,

first latch mechanism operatively associated with said drive connectionand having a door-holding condition for holding said door against saidbiasing means subsequent to a manual movement of said door to saidsecond position and having a door-releasing condition permittingmovement of said door to said first position, a door-driving device forsaid control mechanism and operative when connected to said driveconnection automatically to move said door from the first positionthereof to the second position thereof, second latch mechanism having adevice-connecting condition for connecting said door-driving device tothe associated door to effect automatic operation thereof from the firstto the second position thereof and having a device-holding condition formaintaining said door-driving device out of operative connection withthe door, whereby selective operation of said second latch mechanism tothe device-connecting condition thereof effects automatic movement ofsaid door to the second position thereof and selective operation of saidfirst latch mechanism to the door-releasing condition thereof and saidsecond latch mechanism to the device-holding condition thereof effectsautomatic movement of said door to the first position thereof.

4. The combination set forth in claim 3, wherein said firs position ofsaid door is a closed position with respect to the opening and saidsecond position is an open position with respect to the opening.

5. The combination for use with an associated building having adoor-receiving opening therein, said combination comprising first andsecond tracks for attachment to the associated building respectivelyadjacent to the sides of the door-receiving opening, a sectional doorhaving a plurality of rollers mounted thereon and engageable in saidtracks for movement of said door between a first position and a secondposition with respect to the opening, counterbalance mechanism formounting on the associated building adjacent to the doorreceivingopening to counterbalance said door so that said jacent to said carrierfor engagement with said first latch member, engagement of said firstand second latch members holding said door-driving device in theenergy-storing condition thereof and disengagement of said first andsecond latch members placing said door-driving device in thedoor-driving condition thereof, a third latch member mounted on saiddrive connection and movable therewith and a fourth latch member mountedadjacent to said carrier for selective engagement with said third latchmember, engagement of said third and fourth latch members holding saiddoor in the second position thereof and disengagement of said third andfourth latch members releasing said door for movement to the firstposition thereof, whereby disengagement of said first and second latchmembers effecting automatic movement of said door to said secondposition and engagement of said first and second latch members togetherwith disengagement of said third and fourth latch members effectingautomatic movement of said door to said first position thereof andengagement of said third and fourth latch members holding said door inthe second position thereof.

6. The combination set forth in claim 5, wherein said first position ofsaid door is a closed position with respect to the opening and saidsecond position of said door is an open position with respect to theopening.

7. The combination for use with an associated building having adoor-receiving opening therein, said combination comprising first andsecond tracks for attachment to the associated building respectivelyadjacent to the sides of the door-receiving opening, a sectional doorhaving a plurality of rollers mounted thereon and engageable in saidtracks for movement of said door between a first position and a secondposition with respect to the opening, counterbalance mechanism formounting on the associated building adjacent to the doorreceivingopening and including a torsion bar operatively connected to said door,said counterbalance mechanism serving to counterbalance said door sothat said door is biased toward the second position thereof, and doorcontrol mechanism for mounting on the associated building adjacent toone of said tracks and operatively connected to said torsion bar, saiddoor control mechanism including means selectively operable between adoor-holding condition for holding the door against the biased secondposition thereof and a door-releasing condition permitting movement ofsaid door to the second position thereof for accomplishing selectiveautomatic movement of said door from the first position to the secondposition thereof subsequent to manual operation of the door from thesecond position to the first position thereof and automatic movement ofsaid door from said second position to said first position thereoffollowed by manual movement of said door from the first position to thesecond position thereof.

8. The combination set forth in claim 7, wherein said first position ofsaid door is an open position with respect to the opening and saidsecond position of said door is a closed position with respect to theopening.

9. The combination for use with an associated building having adoor-receiving opening therein, said combination com prising first andsecond tracks for attachment to the associated building respectivelyadjacent to the sides of the door-receiving opening, a sectional doorhaving a plurality of rollers mounted thereon and engageable in saidtracks for movement of said door between a closed position and an openposition with respect to the opening, counterbalance mechanism formounting on the associated building adjacent to the door receivingopening and including a torsion bar operatively connected to said doorsaid counterbalance mechanism serving to counterbalance said door sothat said door is biased toward the closed position thereof under theurging of gravity, a door control mechanism for mounting on theassociated building adjacent to one of said tracks and including a firstlatch mechanism operatively connected to said torsion bar and having adoor-holding condition for holding said door in the open positionthereof against the urging of gravity and having a door-releasingcondition, a door-opening device for said door and operative whenconnected thereto automatically to move said door from the closedposition to the open position thereof, second latch mechanism having adevice-connecting condition for connecting said door-opening device tosaid door to effect automatic opening thereof and having a deviceholdingcondition for maintaining said door-opening device out of operativeconnection with said door, whereby selective operation of said secondlatch mechanism to the device-connecting condition thereof effectsautomatic opening of said door and selective operation of said firstlatch mechanism to the door-releasing condition thereof and said secondlatch mechanism to the device-holding condition thereof effectsautomatic closing of said door.

10. The combination for use with an associated building having adoor-receiving opening therein, said combination comprising first andsecond tracks for attachment to the associated building respectivelyadjacent to the sides of the door-receiving opening, a sectional doorhaving a plurality of rollers mounted thereon and engageable in saidtracks for movement of said door between a closed position and an openposition with respect to the opening, counterbalance mechanism formounting on the associated building adjacent to the door-receivingopening and including a torsion bar operatively connected to said doorto counterbalance the same so that said door is biased toward the closedposition thereof under the urging of gravity, a door control mechanismfor mounting on the associated building adjacent to one of said tracksand including a door disc operatively connected to said torsion bar torotate with said torsion bar in response to movement of said door insaid tracks, a first latch mechanism having a door-holding condition forholding said door in the open position thereof, said first latchmechanism in said doorholding condition being in operative contact withsaid door disc to prevent rotation thereof and thereby to prevent saiddoor from closing, said first latch mechanism having a doorreleasingcondition when said first latch mechanism is out of operative contactwith said door disc thereby to permit free rotation of said door disc, acounterbalance disc for said door and having associated therewith anenergy-storing device, said counterbalance disc being operative whenconnected to said door automatically to move said door from the closedposition to the open position thereof, second latch mechanism having acounterbalance-disc-connecting condition for connecting saidcounterbalance disc and energy-storing device associated therewith tosaid door to effect automatic opening thereof and having acounterbalance-disc-holding condition for maintaining saidcounterbalance disc out of operative connection with said door, wherebyselective operation of said second latch mechanism to thecounterbalance-disc-connecting condition thereof effects automaticopening of said door and selective operation of said first latchmechanism to the door-releasing condition thereof and said second latchmechanism to the counterbalance-disc-holding condition thereof effectsautomatic closing of said door.

11. The combination set forth in claim 10, wherein said door discrotates less than one revolution when said door moves between said openposition and said closed position thereof.

12. The combination set forth in claim 10, wherein said torsion barrotates through a plurality of revolutions and said door disc rotatesless than one revolution when said door moves between said open positionand said closed position thereof.

13. The combination set forth in claim 10, wherein said door disc andsaid counterbalance disc are mounted for rotation about a commonhorizontally disposed axis.

14. The combination set forth in claim 10, wherein said door disc andsaid counterbalance disc are journaled on a common shaft, said door discbeing journaled for free rotation about said shaft, said counterbalancedisc being fixedly journaled to said shaft for rotation therewith.

15. The combination for use with an associated building having adoor-receiving opening therein, first and second tracks for attachmentto the associated building respectively adjacent to the sides of thedoor-receiving opening, a sectional door having a plurality of rollersmounted thereon and engageable in said tracks for movement of said doorbetween a closed position and an open position with respect to theopening, said combination comprising counterbalance mechanism formounting on the associated building adjacent to the doorreceivingopening and including a torsion bar operatively connected to said doorto counterbalance the same so that said door is biased toward the closedposition thereof under the urging of gravity, a door control mechanismfor mounting on the associated building adjacent to one of said tracksand including a door disc operatively connected to said torsion bar torotate with said torsion bar in response to movement of said door insaid tracks, a first latch member fixedly connected to said door discfor rotation therewith, a second latch member pivotable between adoor-holding condition for holding said door in the open positionthereof and a door-releasing condition, said second latch member beingnormally biased to said door-holding condition and engageable in saiddoor-holding condition with said first latch member, said second latchmember in said door-releasing condition being out of operative contactwith said first latch member carried by said door disc thereby to permitfree rotation thereof, a counterbalance disc for said door and havingassociated therewith an energystoring device, said counterbalance discbeing operative when connected to said door automatically to move saiddoor from the closed position to the open position thereof, a thirdlatch member fixedly connected to said counterbalance disc for rotationtherewith, a fourth latch member pivotable between acounterbalance-disc-connecting condition for connecting saidcounterbalance disc to said door to effect automatic opening thereof anda counterbalance-disc-holding condition for maintaining saidcounterbalance disc out of operative connection with said door, saidfourth latch member in said counterbalance-disc-holding conditionthereof being in operative contact with said third latch member toprevent rotation of said counterbalance disc and said fourth latchmember in the counterbalance-disc-connecting condition thereof being outof operative contact with said third latch member thereby to permitrotation of said counterbalance disc, whereby selective operation ofsaid fourth latch member to the counterbalancedisc-connecting conditionthereof effects automatic opening of said door and selective operationof said second latch member to the door disc-releasing condition andfourth latch member to the counterbalance-disc-holding condition thereofeffects automatic closing of said door.

16. The combination set forth in claim 15, wherein when said secondlatch member is in the door-holding condition thereof and said fourthlatch member is in the counterbalancedisc-holding condition thereof, thefirst latch member is angularly spaced about from the third latchmember.

17. The combination set forth in claim 15, wherein when said door is inthe closed position thereof, said first and said third latch members areangularly spaced apart about 90,

18. The combination set forth in claim 15, and further including meansfor preventing engagement of said first and said second latch memberssubsequent to an automatic opening of said door.

19. The combination set forth in claim 15, and further including a stoplug mounted on said second latch member and a stop lug mounted on saidfourth latch member and stop pins mounted on said door disc and saidcounterbalance disc for respective engagement therewith thereby toprevent engagement of said first and second latch members subsequent toan automatic opening of said door.

20. The combination set forth in claim 15, wherein said energy-storingdevice is a spring.

21. The combination for use with an associated building having adoor-receiving opening therein, said combination comprising first andsecond tracks for attachment to the associated building respectivelyadjacent to the sides of the door-receiving opening, a sectional doorhaving a plurality of rollers mounted thereon and engageable in saidtracks for movement of said door between a closed position and an openposition with respect to the opening, counterbalance mechanism formounting on the associated building adjacent to the door-receivingopening to counterbalance said door so that said door is biased towardthe closed position thereof under the urging of gravity, a door controlmechanism for mounting on the associated building and including a driveconnection operatively connected to said door and having a door-closedposition and a door-opened position, first latch mechanism operativelyassociated with said drive connection and having a doorholding conditionfor holding said drive connection in the door-opened position thereofagainst the urging of gravity and having a door-releasing condition, adoor-opening device for said door control mechanism and operative whenconnected to said drive connection automatically to move said driveconnection from the door-closed position to the door-opened positionthereof, second latch mechanism having a device connecting condition forconnecting said door-opening device to said drive connection to effectautomatic opening of said door-and having a device-holding condition formaintaining said door-opening device out of operative connection withsaid drive connection, and a trigger selectively operable on said firstlatch mechanism for operating said first latch mechanism between thedoor-holding condition and the door-releasing condition thereof andselectively operable on said second latch mechanism for operating saidsecond latch mechanism between the device-holding condition and thedevice-connecting condition thereof, whereby selective operation of saidsecond latch mechanism to the device-connecting condition thereofeffects automatic opening of said door and selectiveloperation of saidfirst latch mechanism to the door-releasing condition thereof and saidsecond latch mechanism to the device-holding condition thereof effectsautomatic closing of said door.

22. The combination for use with an associated building having adoor-receiving opening therein, first and second tracks for attachmentto the associated building respectively adjacent to the sides of thedoor-receiving opening, a sectional door having a plurality of rollersmounted thereon and engageable in said tracks for movement of said doorbetween a closed position and an open position with respect to theopening, said combination comprising counterbalance mechanism formounting on the associated building adjacent to the doorreceivingopening and including a torsion bar operatively connected to said doorto counterbalance the same so that said door is biased toward the closedposition thereof under the urging of gravity, a door control mechanismfor mounting on the associated building adjacent to one of said tracksand including a door disc operatively connected to said torsion bar torotate with said torsion bar in response to movement of said door insaid tracks, a first latch member fixedly connected to said door discfor rotation therewith, a second latch member pivotable between adoor-holding condition for holding said door in the open positionthereof and a door-releasing condition, said second latch member beingnormally biased to said door-holding condition and engageable in saiddoor-holding condition with said first latch member, said second latchmember in said door-releasing condition being out of operative contactwith said first latch member carried by said door disc thereby to permitfree rotation thereof, a counterbalance disc for said door and havingassociated therewith an energystoring device, said counterbalance discbeing operative when connected to said door automatically to move saiddoor from the closed position to theopen position thereof, a third latchmember fixedly connected to said counterbalance disc for rotationtherewith, a fourth latch member pivotable between acounterbalance-disc-connecting condition for connecting saidcounterbalance disc to said door to effect automatic opening thereof anda counterbalance-disc-holding condition for maintaining saidcounterbalance disc out of operative connection with said door, saidfourth latch member in said counterbalance-disc-holding conditionthereof being in operative contact with said third latch member toprevent rotation of said counterbalance disc and said fourth latchmember in the counterbalance-disc-connecting condition thereof being outof operative contact with said third latch member thereby to permitrotation of said counterbalance disc, a trigger selectively operable onsaid second latch member for pivoting said second latch member betweenthe door-holding condition and the door-releasing condition thereof andselectively operable on said fourth latch member for pivoting saidfourth latch member between said counterbalance-disc-connectingcondition and said counterbalance-disc-holding condition, and aplurality of angularly spaced lugs on said door disc for selectivelyrendering said trigger operable to change the condition of only one ofsaid second and fourth latch members at one time to cause positiveoperation of the selected one of said latch members by said trigger,whereby selective operation of said fourth latch member to thecounterbalance-disc-connecting condition thereof effects automaticopening of said door and selective operation of said second latch memberto the door disc-releasing condition and fourth latch member to thecounterbalance-disc-holding condition thereof effects automatic closingof said door.

23. The combination set forth in claim 22, wherein said trigger ispositioned between said second and said fourth latch members.

24. The combination set forth in claim 22, wherein said trigger includesa cam follower positioned adjacent to said door disc to be contacted bysaid lugs mounted on said door disc to position said trigger relative tosaid second and said fourth latch members for selective operation ofsaid second and fourth latch members by said trigger.

25. The combination set forth in claim 22, wherein said plurality ofangularly spaced lugs consist of two lugs angularly spaced apart abouton said door disc.

26. The combination set forth in claim 22, wherein said second and saidfourth latch members each have an opening therein respectively toreceive a portion of said trigger.

27. The combination set forth in claim 22, wherein said trigger hasextending therefrom two outwardly disposed cams, said cams extending atan angle of from each other, said trigger being positioned between saidsecond and said fourth latch members, said second and said fourth latchmembers each having therein an opening respectively to receive a cam ofsaid trigger.

28. The combination for use with an associated building having adoor-receiving opening therein, first and second tracks for attachmentto the associated building respectively adjacent to the sides of thedoor-receiving opening, a sectional door having a plurality of rollersmounted thereon and engageable in said tracks for movement of said doorbetween a closed position and an open position with respect to theopening, said combination comprising counterbalance mechanism formounting on the associated building adjacent to the doorreceivingopening and including a torsion bar operatively connected to said doorto counterbalance the same so that said door is biased toward the closedposition thereof under the urging of gravity, a door control mechanismfor mounting on the associated building adjacent to one of said tracksand including a door disc operatively connected to said torsion bar torotate with said torsion bar in response to movement of said door insaid tracks, a first latch member fixedly connected to said door discfor rotation therewith, a second latch member pivotable between adoor-holding condition for holding said door in the open positionthereof and a door-releasing condition, said second latch member beingnormally biased to said door-holding condition and engageable in saiddoor-holding condition with said first latch member, said second latchmember in said door-releasing condition being out of operative contactwith said first latch member carried by said door disc thereby to permitfree rotation thereof, a counterbalance disc for said door and havingassociated therewith an energystoring device, said counterbalance discbeing operative when connected to said door automatically to move saiddoor from the closed position to the open position thereof, a thirdlatch member fixedly connected to said counterbalance disc for rotationtherewith, a fourth latch member pivotable between acounterbalance-disc-connecting condition for connecting saidcounterbalance disc to said door to efiect automatic opening thereof anda counterbalance-disc-holding condition for maintaining saidcounterbalance disc out of operative connection with said door, saidfourth latch member in said counterbalance-disc-holding conditionthereof being in operative contact with said third latch member toprevent rotation of said counterbalance disc and said fourth latchmember in the counterbalance-disc-connecting condition thereof being outof operative contact with said third latch member thereby to pennitrotation of said counterbalance disc, a trigger selectively operable onsaid second latch member for pivoting said second latch member betweenthe door-holding condition and the door-releasing condition thereof andselectively operable on said fourth latch member for pivoting saidfourth latch member between said counterbalance-disc-connectingcondition and said counterbalance-disc-holding condition, a plurality ofangularly spaced lugs on said door disc for selectively rendering saidtrigger operable to change the condition of only one of said second andfourth latch member at one time to cause positive operation of theselected one of said latch members by said trigger, and a controlelement disposed adjacent to the associated building and operativelyconnected to said trigger to activate said trigger in response tooperation of said control element upon the entering of or the exitingfrom the associated building by a wheeled vehicle, whereby selectiveoperation of said fourth latch member to thecounterbalancedisc-connecting condition thereof effects automaticopening of said door and selective operation of said second latch memberto the door disc-releasing condition and fourth latch member to thecounterbalance-disc-holding condition thereof effects automatic closingof said door.

29. The combination set forth in claim 28, wherein said control elementmoves said trigger downwardly in response to operation of said controlelement.

30. The combination set forth in claim 28, wherein said control elementis hydraulically operated thereby to activate said trigger in responseto movement of hydraulic fluid in said control element.

31. The combination set forth in claim 28, wherein said control elementis disposed in front of the associated building and across thedoor-receiving opening therein.

32. The combination for use with an associated building having adoor-receiving opening therein, said combination comprising first andsecond tracks for attachment to the associated building respectivelyadjacent to the sides of the door-receiving opening, a sectional doorhaving a plurality of rollers mounted thereon and engageable in saidtracks for movement of said door between a closed position and an openposition with respect to the opening, counterbalance mechanism formounting on the associated building adjacent to the door-receivingopening to counterbalance said door so that said door is biased towardone of said positions, and door control mechanism for mounting on theassociated building and including a controlling element therefordisposed in front of the door-receiving opening, said door-controlmechanism being operatively connected to said door, said door controlmechanism including means selectively operable between a door-holdingcondition for holding the door against the biased position thereof and adoor-releasing condition permitting movement of said door to the biasedposition thereof for accomplishing selective automatic movement thereofbetween said closed and open positions of said door, said door controlmechanism in the closed position of said door accommodating both manualopening of said door and automatic opening of said door by actuation ofsaid control element, said door control mechanism in the open positionof said door accommodating both manual closing of said door andautomatic closing of said door by actuation of said control elementafter manual opening of said door.

33. The combination set forth in claim 32, wherein said door is biasedtoward the closed position thereof.

34. The combination for use with an associated building having adoor-receiving opening therein, said combination comprising first andsecond tracks for attachment to the associated building respectivelyadjacent to the sides of the door-receiving opening, a sectional doorhaving a plurality of rollers mounted thereon and engageable in saidtracks for movement of said door between a closed position and an openposition with respect to the opening, counterbalance mechanism formounting on the associated building adjacent to the door-receivingopening and operatively connected to said door to counterbalance thesame, said counterbalance mechanism including a torsion bar and a wheelhaving a plurality of teeth mounted on the periphery thereof joumaledthereon for free rotation with respect thereto, a torsion springsurrounding said torsion bar and fixed at one end thereof to theassociated building and fixed at the other end thereof to said wheel,drive means mounted to said torsion bar for rotation therewith andadjustment with respect thereto and operatively connected to said wheel,adjustment of said drive means with respect to said torsion bar rotatingsaid wheel with respect to said torsion bar to adjust the tension insaid torsion spring.

35. The combination set forth in claim 34, wherein said drive meansincludes a worm gear.

36. A door control mechanism for use with a door mounted in anassociated building door-receiving opening to accommodate a manualmovement of the door from a first position to a second position thereoffollowed by an automatic movement of the door from the second positionto the first position thereof under the urging of a biasing means andthen by an automatic movement of the door from the first position to thesecond position thereof and then by a manual movement of the door fromthe second position thereof to the first position thereof, said doorcontrol mechanism comprising a drive connection operatively connected tosaid door, a carrier for movement with respect to the opening and havingthereon for movement therewith a first latch member and a drive element,a door-driving device operatively connected to said drive element andhaving an energy-storing condition and a door-driving condition, asecond latch member mounted adjacent to said carrier for engagement withsaid first latch member, engagement of said first and second latchmembers holding said door-driving device in the energy-storing conditionthereof and disengagement of said first and second latch members placingsaid door-driving device in the door-driving condition thereof, a thirdlatch member mounted on said drive connection and movable therewith anda fourth latch member mounted adjacent to said carrier for selectiveengagement with said third latch member, engagement of said third andfourth latch members holding said door in the second position thereofand disengagement of said third and fourth latch members releasing saiddoor for movement to the first position thereof, whereby disengagementof said first and second latch members effecting automatic movement ofthe door to said second position and engagement of said first and secondlatch members together with disengagement of said third and fourth latchmembers effecting automatic movement of the door to the first positionthereof and engagement of said third and fourth latch members holdingthe door in the second position thereof.

1. The combination for use with an associated building having adoor-receiving opening therein, said combination comprising: first andsecond tracks for attachment to the associated building respectivelyadjacent to the sides of the door-receiving opening, a sectional doorhaving a plurality of rollers mounted thereon and engageable in saidtracks for movement of said door between a first position with respectto the opening and a second position with respect to the opening,counterbalance mechanism for mounting on the associated buildingadjacent to the doorreceiving opening to counterbalance said door sothat said door is biased toward the first position thereof, and doorcontrol mechanism for mounting on the associated building andoperatively connected to said door, said door mechanism including meansselectively operable between a door-holding condition for holding saiddoor against the biased first position thereof and a doorreleasingcondition permitting movement of said door to the first position thereoffor accommodating manual movement of said door from said first positionto said second position followed by automatic movement of said door fromsaid second position to said first position followed by an automaticmovement of said door from said first position to said second positionand then followed by a manual movement of said door from said secondposition to said first position.
 2. The combination set forth in claim1, wherein said second position of said door is an open position withrespect to the opening and said first position of said door is a closedposition with respect to the opening.
 3. The combination for use with anassociated building having a door-receiving opening therein, saidcombination comprising first and second tracks for attachment to theassociated building respectively adjacent to the sides of thedoor-receiving opening, a sectional door having a plurality of rollersmounted thereon and engageable in said tracks for movement of said doorbetween a first position and a second position with respect to theopening, counterbalance mechanism for mounting on the associatedbuilding adjacent to the door-receiving opening to counterbalance saiddoor so that said door is biased toward the first position thereof, adoor control mechanism for mounting on the associated building andincluding a drive connection operatively connected to said door, firstlatch mechanism operatively associated with said drive connection andhaving a door-holding condition for holding said door against saidbiasing means subsequent to a manual movement of said door to saidsecond position and having a door-releasing condition permittingmovement of said door to said first position, a door-driving device forsaid control mechanism and operative when connected to said driveconnection automatically to move said door from the first positionthereof to the second position thereof, second latch mechanism having adevice-connecting condition for connecting said door-driving device tothe associated door to effect automatic operation thereof from the firstto the second position thereof and having a device-holding condition formaintaining said door-driving device out of operative connection withthe door, whereby selective operation of said second latch mechanism tothe device-connecting condition thereof effects automatic movement ofsaid door to the second position thereof and selective operation of saidfirst latch mechanism to the door-releasing condition thereof and saidsecond latch mechanism to the device-holding condition thereof effectsautomatic movement of said door to the first position thereof.
 4. Thecombination set forth in claim 3, wherein said first position of saiddoor is a closed position with respect to the opening and said secondposition is an open position with respect to the opening.
 5. Thecombination for use with an associated building having a door-receivingopening therein, said combination comprising first and second tracks forattachment to the associated building respectively adjacent to the sidesof the door-receiving opening, a sectional door having a plurality ofrollers mounted thereon and engageable in said tracks for movement ofsaid door between a first position and a second position with respect tothe opening, counterbalance mechanism for mounting on the associatedbuilding adjacent to the door-receiving opening to counterbalance saiddoor so that said door is biased toward the first position thereof, adoor control mechanism for mounting on the associated building andincluding a drive connection operatively connected to said door, acarrier mounted for movement with respect to the opening and havingthereon for movement therewith a first latch member and a drive element,a door-driving device for said door control mechanism and operativelyconnected to said drive element and having an energy-storing conditionand a door-driving condition, a second latch member mounted adjacent tosaid carrier for engagement with said first latch member, engagement ofsaid first and second latch members holding said door-driving device inthe energy-storing condition thereof and disengagement of said first andsecond latch members placing said door-driving device in thedoor-driving condition thereof, a third latch member mounted on saiddrive connection and movable therewith and a fourth latch member mountedadjacent to said carrier for selective engagement with said third latchmember, engagement of said third and fourth latch members holding saiddoor in the second position thereof and disengagement of said third andfourth latch members releasing said door for movement to the firstposition thereof, whereby disengagement of said first and second latchmembers effecting automatic movement of said door to said secondposition and engagement of said first and second latch members togetherwith disengagement of said third and fourth latch members effectingautomatic movement of said door to said first position thereof andengagement of said third and fourth latch members holding said door inthe second position thereof.
 6. The combination set forth in claim 5,wherein said first position of said door is a closed position withrespect to the opening and said second position of said door is an openposition with respect to the opening.
 7. The combination for use with anassociated building having a door-receiving opening therein, saidcombination comprising first and second tracks for attachment to theassociated building respectively adjacent to the sides of thedoor-receiving opening, a sectional door having a plurality of rollersmounted thereon and engageable in said tracks for movement of said doorbetween a first position and a second position with respect to theopening, counterbalance mechanism for mounting on the associatedbuilding adjacent to the door-receiving opening and including a torsionbar operatively connected to said door, said counterbalance mechanismserving to counterbalance said door so that said door is biased towardthe second position thereof, and door control mechanism for mounting onthe associated building adjacent to one of said tracks and operativelyconnected to said torsion bar, said door control mechanism includingmeans selectively operable between a door-holding condition for holdingthe door against the biased second position thereof and a door-releasingcondition permitting movement of said door to the second positionthereof for accomplishing selective automatic movement of said door fromthe first position to the second position thereof subsequent to manualoperation of the door from the second position to the first positionthereof and automatic movement of said door from said second position tosaid first position thereof followed by manual movement of said doorfrom the first position to the second position thereof.
 8. Thecombination set forth in claim 7, wherein said first position of saiddoor is an open position with respect to the opening and said secondposition of said door is a closed position with respect to the opening.9. The combination for use with an associated building having adoor-receiving opening therein, said combination comprising first andsecond tracks for attachment to the associated building respectivelyadjacent to the sides of the door-receiving opening, a sectional doorhaving a plurality of rollers mounted thereon and engageable in saidtracks for movement of said door between a closed position and an openposition with respect to the opening, counterbalance mechanism formounting on the associated building adjacent to the door-receivingopening and including a torsion bar operatively connected to said doorsaid counterbalance mechanism serving to counterbalance said door sothat said door is biased toward the closed position thereof under theurging of gravity, a door control mechanism for mounting on theassociated building adjacent to one of said tracks and including a firstlatch mechanism operatively connected to said torsion bar and having adoor-holding condition for holding said door in the open positionthereof against the urging of gravity and having a door-releasingcondition, a door-opening device for said door and operative whenconnected thereto automatically to move said door from the closedposition to the open position thereof, second latch mechanism having adevice-connecting condition for connecting said door-opening device tosaid door to effect automatic opening thereof and having adevice-holding condition for maintaining said door-opening device out ofoperative connection with said door, whereby selective operatiOn of saidsecond latch mechanism to the device-connecting condition thereofeffects automatic opening of said door and selective operation of saidfirst latch mechanism to the door-releasing condition thereof and saidsecond latch mechanism to the device-holding condition thereof effectsautomatic closing of said door.
 10. The combination for use with anassociated building having a door-receiving opening therein, saidcombination comprising first and second tracks for attachment to theassociated building respectively adjacent to the sides of thedoor-receiving opening, a sectional door having a plurality of rollersmounted thereon and engageable in said tracks for movement of said doorbetween a closed position and an open position with respect to theopening, counterbalance mechanism for mounting on the associatedbuilding adjacent to the door-receiving opening and including a torsionbar operatively connected to said door to counterbalance the same sothat said door is biased toward the closed position thereof under theurging of gravity, a door control mechanism for mounting on theassociated building adjacent to one of said tracks and including a doordisc operatively connected to said torsion bar to rotate with saidtorsion bar in response to movement of said door in said tracks, a firstlatch mechanism having a door-holding condition for holding said door inthe open position thereof, said first latch mechanism in saiddoor-holding condition being in operative contact with said door disc toprevent rotation thereof and thereby to prevent said door from closing,said first latch mechanism having a door-releasing condition when saidfirst latch mechanism is out of operative contact with said door discthereby to permit free rotation of said door disc, a counterbalance discfor said door and having associated therewith an energy-storing device,said counterbalance disc being operative when connected to said doorautomatically to move said door from the closed position to the openposition thereof, second latch mechanism having acounterbalance-disc-connecting condition for connecting saidcounterbalance disc and energy-storing device associated therewith tosaid door to effect automatic opening thereof and having acounterbalance-disc-holding condition for maintaining saidcounterbalance disc out of operative connection with said door, wherebyselective operation of said second latch mechanism to thecounterbalance-disc-connecting condition thereof effects automaticopening of said door and selective operation of said first latchmechanism to the door-releasing condition thereof and said second latchmechanism to the counterbalance-disc-holding condition thereof effectsautomatic closing of said door.
 11. The combination set forth in claim10, wherein said door disc rotates less than one revolution when saiddoor moves between said open position and said closed position thereof.12. The combination set forth in claim 10, wherein said torsion barrotates through a plurality of revolutions and said door disc rotatesless than one revolution when said door moves between said open positionand said closed position thereof.
 13. The combination set forth in claim10, wherein said door disc and said counterbalance disc are mounted forrotation about a common horizontally disposed axis.
 14. The combinationset forth in claim 10, wherein said door disc and said counterbalancedisc are journaled on a common shaft, said door disc being journaled forfree rotation about said shaft, said counterbalance disc being fixedlyjournaled to said shaft for rotation therewith.
 15. The combination foruse with an associated building having a door-receiving opening therein,first and second tracks for attachment to the associated buildingrespectively adjacent to the sides of the door-receiving opening, asectional door having a plurality of rollers mounted thereon andengageable in said tracks for movement of said door between a closedposition and an open position with resPect to the opening, saidcombination comprising counterbalance mechanism for mounting on theassociated building adjacent to the door-receiving opening and includinga torsion bar operatively connected to said door to counterbalance thesame so that said door is biased toward the closed position thereofunder the urging of gravity, a door control mechanism for mounting onthe associated building adjacent to one of said tracks and including adoor disc operatively connected to said torsion bar to rotate with saidtorsion bar in response to movement of said door in said tracks, a firstlatch member fixedly connected to said door disc for rotation therewith,a second latch member pivotable between a door-holding condition forholding said door in the open position thereof and a door-releasingcondition, said second latch member being normally biased to saiddoor-holding condition and engageable in said door-holding conditionwith said first latch member, said second latch member in saiddoor-releasing condition being out of operative contact with said firstlatch member carried by said door disc thereby to permit free rotationthereof, a counterbalance disc for said door and having associatedtherewith an energy-storing device, said counterbalance disc beingoperative when connected to said door automatically to move said doorfrom the closed position to the open position thereof, a third latchmember fixedly connected to said counterbalance disc for rotationtherewith, a fourth latch member pivotable between acounterbalance-disc-connecting condition for connecting saidcounterbalance disc to said door to effect automatic opening thereof anda counterbalance-disc-holding condition for maintaining saidcounterbalance disc out of operative connection with said door, saidfourth latch member in said counterbalance-disc-holding conditionthereof being in operative contact with said third latch member toprevent rotation of said counterbalance disc and said fourth latchmember in the counterbalance-disc-connecting condition thereof being outof operative contact with said third latch member thereby to permitrotation of said counterbalance disc, whereby selective operation ofsaid fourth latch member to the counterbalance-disc-connecting conditionthereof effects automatic opening of said door and selective operationof said second latch member to the door disc-releasing condition andfourth latch member to the counterbalance-disc-holding condition thereofeffects automatic closing of said door.
 16. The combination set forth inclaim 15, wherein when said second latch member is in the door-holdingcondition thereof and said fourth latch member is in thecounterbalance-disc-holding condition thereof, the first latch member isangularly spaced about 90* from the third latch member.
 17. Thecombination set forth in claim 15, wherein when said door is in theclosed position thereof, said first and said third latch members areangularly spaced apart about 90*.
 18. The combination set forth in claim15, and further including means for preventing engagement of said firstand said second latch members subsequent to an automatic opening of saiddoor.
 19. The combination set forth in claim 15, and further including astop lug mounted on said second latch member and a stop lug mounted onsaid fourth latch member and stop pins mounted on said door disc andsaid counterbalance disc for respective engagement therewith thereby toprevent engagement of said first and second latch members subsequent toan automatic opening of said door.
 20. The combination set forth inclaim 15, wherein said energy-storing device is a spring.
 21. Thecombination for use with an associated building having a door-receivingopening therein, said combination comprising first and second tracks forattachment to the associated building respectively adjacent to the sidesof the door-receiving opening, a sectional door having a plurality ofrollers mounted thereon and engageable in sAid tracks for movement ofsaid door between a closed position and an open position with respect tothe opening, counterbalance mechanism for mounting on the associatedbuilding adjacent to the door-receiving opening to counterbalance saiddoor so that said door is biased toward the closed position thereofunder the urging of gravity, a door control mechanism for mounting onthe associated building and including a drive connection operativelyconnected to said door and having a door-closed position and adoor-opened position, first latch mechanism operatively associated withsaid drive connection and having a door-holding condition for holdingsaid drive connection in the door-opened position thereof against theurging of gravity and having a door-releasing condition, a door-openingdevice for said door control mechanism and operative when connected tosaid drive connection automatically to move said drive connection fromthe door-closed position to the door-opened position thereof, secondlatch mechanism having a device connecting condition for connecting saiddoor-opening device to said drive connection to effect automatic openingof said door and having a device-holding condition for maintaining saiddoor-opening device out of operative connection with said driveconnection, and a trigger selectively operable on said first latchmechanism for operating said first latch mechanism between thedoor-holding condition and the door-releasing condition thereof andselectively operable on said second latch mechanism for operating saidsecond latch mechanism between the device-holding condition and thedevice-connecting condition thereof, whereby selective operation of saidsecond latch mechanism to the device-connecting condition thereofeffects automatic opening of said door and selective operation of saidfirst latch mechanism to the door-releasing condition thereof and saidsecond latch mechanism to the device-holding condition thereof effectsautomatic closing of said door.
 22. The combination for use with anassociated building having a door-receiving opening therein, first andsecond tracks for attachment to the associated building respectivelyadjacent to the sides of the door-receiving opening, a sectional doorhaving a plurality of rollers mounted thereon and engageable in saidtracks for movement of said door between a closed position and an openposition with respect to the opening, said combination comprisingcounterbalance mechanism for mounting on the associated buildingadjacent to the door-receiving opening and including a torsion baroperatively connected to said door to counterbalance the same so thatsaid door is biased toward the closed position thereof under the urgingof gravity, a door control mechanism for mounting on the associatedbuilding adjacent to one of said tracks and including a door discoperatively connected to said torsion bar to rotate with said torsionbar in response to movement of said door in said tracks, a first latchmember fixedly connected to said door disc for rotation therewith, asecond latch member pivotable between a door-holding condition forholding said door in the open position thereof and a door-releasingcondition, said second latch member being normally biased to saiddoor-holding condition and engageable in said door-holding conditionwith said first latch member, said second latch member in saiddoor-releasing condition being out of operative contact with said firstlatch member carried by said door disc thereby to permit free rotationthereof, a counterbalance disc for said door and having associatedtherewith an energy-storing device, said counterbalance disc beingoperative when connected to said door automatically to move said doorfrom the closed position to the open position thereof, a third latchmember fixedly connected to said counterbalance disc for rotationtherewith, a fourth latch member pivotable between acounterbalance-disc-connecting condition for connecting saidcounterbalance disc to said door to effect autOmatic opening thereof anda counterbalance-disc-holding condition for maintaining saidcounterbalance disc out of operative connection with said door, saidfourth latch member in said counterbalance-disc-holding conditionthereof being in operative contact with said third latch member toprevent rotation of said counterbalance disc and said fourth latchmember in the counterbalance-disc-connecting condition thereof being outof operative contact with said third latch member thereby to permitrotation of said counterbalance disc, a trigger selectively operable onsaid second latch member for pivoting said second latch member betweenthe door-holding condition and the door-releasing condition thereof andselectively operable on said fourth latch member for pivoting saidfourth latch member between said counterbalance-disc-connectingcondition and said counterbalance-disc-holding condition, and aplurality of angularly spaced lugs on said door disc for selectivelyrendering said trigger operable to change the condition of only one ofsaid second and fourth latch members at one time to cause positiveoperation of the selected one of said latch members by said trigger,whereby selective operation of said fourth latch member to thecounterbalance-disc-connecting condition thereof effects automaticopening of said door and selective operation of said second latch memberto the door disc-releasing condition and fourth latch member to thecounterbalance-disc-holding condition thereof effects automatic closingof said door.
 23. The combination set forth in claim 22, wherein saidtrigger is positioned between said second and said fourth latch members.24. The combination set forth in claim 22, wherein said trigger includesa cam follower positioned adjacent to said door disc to be contacted bysaid lugs mounted on said door disc to position said trigger relative tosaid second and said fourth latch members for selective operation ofsaid second and fourth latch members by said trigger.
 25. Thecombination set forth in claim 22, wherein said plurality of angularlyspaced lugs consist of two lugs angularly spaced apart about 90* on saiddoor disc.
 26. The combination set forth in claim 22, wherein saidsecond and said fourth latch members each have an opening thereinrespectively to receive a portion of said trigger.
 27. The combinationset forth in claim 22, wherein said trigger has extending therefrom twooutwardly disposed cams, said cams extending at an angle of 180* fromeach other, said trigger being positioned between said second and saidfourth latch members, said second and said fourth latch members eachhaving therein an opening respectively to receive a cam of said trigger.28. The combination for use with an associated building having adoor-receiving opening therein, first and second tracks for attachmentto the associated building respectively adjacent to the sides of thedoor-receiving opening, a sectional door having a plurality of rollersmounted thereon and engageable in said tracks for movement of said doorbetween a closed position and an open position with respect to theopening, said combination comprising counterbalance mechanism formounting on the associated building adjacent to the door-receivingopening and including a torsion bar operatively connected to said doorto counterbalance the same so that said door is biased toward the closedposition thereof under the urging of gravity, a door control mechanismfor mounting on the associated building adjacent to one of said tracksand including a door disc operatively connected to said torsion bar torotate with said torsion bar in response to movement of said door insaid tracks, a first latch member fixedly connected to said door discfor rotation therewith, a second latch member pivotable between adoor-holding condition for holding said door in the open positionthereof and a door-releasing condition, said second latch member beingnormally biased to said door-holding conDition and engageable in saiddoor-holding condition with said first latch member, said second latchmember in said door-releasing condition being out of operative contactwith said first latch member carried by said door disc thereby to permitfree rotation thereof, a counterbalance disc for said door and havingassociated therewith an energy-storing device, said counterbalance discbeing operative when connected to said door automatically to move saiddoor from the closed position to the open position thereof, a thirdlatch member fixedly connected to said counterbalance disc for rotationtherewith, a fourth latch member pivotable between acounterbalance-disc-connecting condition for connecting saidcounterbalance disc to said door to effect automatic opening thereof anda counterbalance-disc-holding condition for maintaining saidcounterbalance disc out of operative connection with said door, saidfourth latch member in said counterbalance-disc-holding conditionthereof being in operative contact with said third latch member toprevent rotation of said counterbalance disc and said fourth latchmember in the counterbalance-disc-connecting condition thereof being outof operative contact with said third latch member thereby to permitrotation of said counterbalance disc, a trigger selectively operable onsaid second latch member for pivoting said second latch member betweenthe door-holding condition and the door-releasing condition thereof andselectively operable on said fourth latch member for pivoting saidfourth latch member between said counterbalance-disc-connectingcondition and said counterbalance-disc-holding condition, a plurality ofangularly spaced lugs on said door disc for selectively rendering saidtrigger operable to change the condition of only one of said second andfourth latch member at one time to cause positive operation of theselected one of said latch members by said trigger, and a controlelement disposed adjacent to the associated building and operativelyconnected to said trigger to activate said trigger in response tooperation of said control element upon the entering of or the exitingfrom the associated building by a wheeled vehicle, whereby selectiveoperation of said fourth latch member to thecounterbalance-disc-connecting condition thereof effects automaticopening of said door and selective operation of said second latch memberto the door disc-releasing condition and fourth latch member to thecounterbalance-disc-holding condition thereof effects automatic closingof said door.
 29. The combination set forth in claim 28, wherein saidcontrol element moves said trigger downwardly in response to operationof said control element.
 30. The combination set forth in claim 28,wherein said control element is hydraulically operated thereby toactivate said trigger in response to movement of hydraulic fluid in saidcontrol element.
 31. The combination set forth in claim 28, wherein saidcontrol element is disposed in front of the associated building andacross the door-receiving opening therein.
 32. The combination for usewith an associated building having a door-receiving opening therein,said combination comprising first and second tracks for attachment tothe associated building respectively adjacent to the sides of thedoor-receiving opening, a sectional door having a plurality of rollersmounted thereon and engageable in said tracks for movement of said doorbetween a closed position and an open position with respect to theopening, counterbalance mechanism for mounting on the associatedbuilding adjacent to the door-receiving opening to counterbalance saiddoor so that said door is biased toward one of said positions, and doorcontrol mechanism for mounting on the associated building and includinga controlling element therefor disposed in front of the door-receivingopening, said door-control mechanism being operatively connected to saiddoor, said door control mechanism including means selectively operablebetween a Door-holding condition for holding the door against the biasedposition thereof and a door-releasing condition permitting movement ofsaid door to the biased position thereof for accomplishing selectiveautomatic movement thereof between said closed and open positions ofsaid door, said door control mechanism in the closed position of saiddoor accommodating both manual opening of said door and automaticopening of said door by actuation of said control element, said doorcontrol mechanism in the open position of said door accommodating bothmanual closing of said door and automatic closing of said door byactuation of said control element after manual opening of said door. 33.The combination set forth in claim 32, wherein said door is biasedtoward the closed position thereof.
 34. The combination for use with anassociated building having a door-receiving opening therein, saidcombination comprising first and second tracks for attachment to theassociated building respectively adjacent to the sides of thedoor-receiving opening, a sectional door having a plurality of rollersmounted thereon and engageable in said tracks for movement of said doorbetween a closed position and an open position with respect to theopening, counterbalance mechanism for mounting on the associatedbuilding adjacent to the door-receiving opening and operativelyconnected to said door to counterbalance the same, said counterbalancemechanism including a torsion bar and a wheel having a plurality ofteeth mounted on the periphery thereof journaled thereon for freerotation with respect thereto, a torsion spring surrounding said torsionbar and fixed at one end thereof to the associated building and fixed atthe other end thereof to said wheel, drive means mounted to said torsionbar for rotation therewith and adjustment with respect thereto andoperatively connected to said wheel, adjustment of said drive means withrespect to said torsion bar rotating said wheel with respect to saidtorsion bar to adjust the tension in said torsion spring.
 35. Thecombination set forth in claim 34, wherein said drive means includes aworm gear.
 36. A door control mechanism for use with a door mounted inan associated building door-receiving opening to accommodate a manualmovement of the door from a first position to a second position thereoffollowed by an automatic movement of the door from the second positionto the first position thereof under the urging of a biasing means andthen by an automatic movement of the door from the first position to thesecond position thereof and then by a manual movement of the door fromthe second position thereof to the first position thereof, said doorcontrol mechanism comprising a drive connection operatively connected tosaid door, a carrier for movement with respect to the opening and havingthereon for movement therewith a first latch member and a drive element,a door-driving device operatively connected to said drive element andhaving an energy-storing condition and a door-driving condition, asecond latch member mounted adjacent to said carrier for engagement withsaid first latch member, engagement of said first and second latchmembers holding said door-driving device in the energy-storing conditionthereof and disengagement of said first and second latch members placingsaid door-driving device in the door-driving condition thereof, a thirdlatch member mounted on said drive connection and movable therewith anda fourth latch member mounted adjacent to said carrier for selectiveengagement with said third latch member, engagement of said third andfourth latch members holding said door in the second position thereofand disengagement of said third and fourth latch members releasing saiddoor for movement to the first position thereof, whereby disengagementof said first and second latch members effecting automatic movement ofthe door to said second position and engagement of said first and secondlatch members together with disengagement Of said third and fourth latchmembers effecting automatic movement of the door to the first positionthereof and engagement of said third and fourth latch members holdingthe door in the second position thereof.
 37. The door control mechanismset forth in claim 36, wherein the first position of the door is aclosed position thereof and the second position of the door is an openposition thereof.
 38. A door control mechanism for use with a doormounted in an associated building door-receiving opening to accommodatea manual movement of the door from a first position to a second positionthereof followed by an automatic movement of the door from the secondposition the the first position thereof under the urging of a biasingmeans and then by an automatic movement of the door from the firstposition to the second position thereof and then by a manual movement ofthe door from the second position thereof to the first position thereof,said door control mechanism comprising a first latch mechanismoperatively connected to the biasing means and having a door-holdingcondition for holding the door in the second position thereof, andhaving a door-releasing condition, a door-driving device for the doorand operative when connected thereto automatically to move the door fromthe first position to the second position thereof, second latchmechanism having a device-connecting condition for connecting saiddoor-driving device to the door to effect automatic movement thereof tothe second position and having a device-holding condition formaintaining said door-driving device out of operative connection withthe door, whereby selective operation of said second latch mechanism tothe device-connecting condition thereof effects automatic movement ofthe door to the second position thereof and selective operation of saidfirst latch mechanism to the door-releasing condition thereof and saidsecond latch mechanism to the device-holding condition thereof effectsautomatic movement of the door to the first position thereof.
 39. A doorcontrol mechanism for use with a door mounted in an associated buildingdoor-receiving opening to accommodate a manual movement of the door froma first position to a second position thereof followed by an automaticmovement of the door from the second position to the first positionthereof under the urging of a biasing means and then by an automaticmovement of the door from the first position to the second positionthereof and then by a manual movement of the door from the secondposition thereof to the first position thereof, said door controlmechanism comprising a door disc operatively connected to the biasingmeans to rotate with the biasing means in response to movement of thedoor, a first latch mechanism having a door-holding condition forholding the door in the second position thereof, said first latchmechanism in said door-holding condition being in operative contact withsaid door disc to prevent rotation thereof and thereby to prevent thedoor from moving to the first position thereof, said first latchmechanism having a door-releasing condition when said first latchmechanism is out of operative contact with said door disc thereby topermit free rotation of said door disc, a counterbalance disc for thedoor and having associated therewith an energy-storing device, saidcounterbalance disc being operative when connected to the doorautomatically to move the door from the first position to the secondposition thereof, second latch mechanism having acounterbalance-disc-connecting condition for connecting saidcounterbalance disc and said energy-storing device associated therewithto the door to effect automatic movement thereof from the first positionto the second position thereof and having a counterbalance-disc-holdingcondition for maintaining said counterbalance disc out of operativeconnection with the door, whereby selective operation of said secondlatch mechanism to the counterbalance-disc-connecting condition thereofeffects automatic mOvement of the door from the first position to thesecond position thereof and selective operation of said first latchmechanism to the door-releasing condition thereof and said second latchmechanism to the counterbalance-disc-holding condition thereof effectsautomatic movement of the door from the second position to the firstposition thereof.
 40. A door control mechanism for use with a doormounted in an associated building door-receiving opening to accommodatea manual movement of the door from a first position to a second positionthereof followed by an automatic movement of the door from the secondposition to the first position thereof under the urging of a biasingmeans and then by an automatic movement of the door from the firstposition to the second position thereof and then by a manual movement ofthe door from the second position thereof to the first position thereof,said door control mechanism comprising a door disc operatively connectedto the biasing means to rotate therewith in response to movement of thedoor, a first latch member fixedly connected to said door disc forrotation therewith, a second latch member pivotable between adoor-holding condition for holding the door in the second positionthereof and a door-releasing condition, said second latch member beingnormally biased to said door-holding condition and engageable in saiddoor-holding condition with said first latch member, said second latchmember in said door-releasing condition being out of operative contactwith said first latch member carried by said door disc thereby to permitfree rotation thereof, a counterbalance disc for the door and havingassociated therewith an energy-storing device, said counterbalance discbeing operative when connected to the door automatically to move thedoor from the first position to the second position thereof, a thirdlatch member fixedly connected to said counterbalance disc for rotationtherewith, a fourth latch member pivotable between acounterbalance-disc-connecting condition for connecting saidcounterbalance disc to the door to effect automatic movement thereoffrom the first to the second position thereof and acounterbalance-disc-holding condition for maintaining saidcounterbalance disc out of operative connection with the door, saidfourth latch member in said counterbalance-disc-holding conditionthereof being in operative contact with said third latch member toprevent rotation of said counterbalance disc and said fourth latchmember in the counterbalance-disc-connecting condition thereof being outof operative contact with said third latch member thereby to permitrotation of said counterbalance disc, whereby selective operation ofsaid fourth latch member to the counterbalance-disc-connecting conditionthereof effects automatic movement of the door from the first to thesecond position thereof and selective operation of said second latchmember to the door disc-releasing condition and fourth latch member tothe counterbalance-disc-holding condition thereof effects automaticmovement of the door from the second position to the first positionthereof.
 41. A door control mechanism for use with a door mounted in anassociated building door-receiving opening to accommodate a manualmovement of the door from a first position to a second position thereoffollowed by an automatic movement of the door from the second positionto the first position thereof under the urging of a biasing means andthen by an automatic movement of the door from the first position to thesecond position thereof and then by a manual movement of the door fromthe second position thereof to the first position thereof, said doorcontrol mechanism comprising a drive connection operatively connected tothe door and having a first position and a second position, first latchmechanism operatively associated with said drive connection and having adoor-holding condition for holding said drive connection in the secondposition thereof and having a door-releasing condition, A door-drivingdevice for said door control mechanism and operative when connected tosaid drive connection automatically to move said drive connection fromthe first position to the second position thereof, second latchmechanism having a device-connecting condition for connecting saiddoor-driving device to said drive connection to effect automaticmovement of the door from the first position to the second positionthereof and having a device-holding condition for maintaining saiddoor-driving device out of operative connection with said driveconnection, and a trigger selectively operable on said first latchmechanism for operating said first latch mechanism between thedoor-holding condition and the door-releasing condition thereof andselectively operable on said second latch mechanism for operating saidsecond latch mechanism between the device-holding condition and thedevice-connecting condition thereof, whereby selective operation of saidsecond latch mechanism to the device-connecting condition thereofeffects automatic movement of the door from the first position to thesecond position thereof and selective operation of said first latchmechanism to the door-releasing condition thereof and said second latchmechanism to the device-holding condition thereof effects automaticmovement of the door from the second position to the first positionthereof.
 42. A door control mechanism for use with a door mounted in anassociated building door-receiving opening to accommodate a manualmovement of the door from a first position to a second position thereoffollowed by an automatic movement of the door from the second positionto the first position thereof under the urging of a biasing means andthen by an automatic movement of the door from the first position to thesecond position thereof and then by a manual movement of the door fromthe second position thereof to the first position thereof, said doorcontrol mechanism comprising a door disc operatively connected to thebiasing means to rotate therewith in response to movement of the door, afirst latch member fixedly connected to said door disc for rotationtherewith, a second latch member pivotable between a door-holdingcondition for holding the door in the second position thereof and adoor-releasing condition, said second latch member being normally biasedto said door-holding condition and engageable in said door-holdingcondition with said first latch member, second latch member in saiddoor-releasing condition being out of operative contact with said firstlatch member carried by said door disc thereby to permit free rotationthereof, a counterbalance disc for the door and having associatedtherewith an energy-storing device, said counterbalance disc beingoperative when connected to the door automatically to move the door fromthe first position to the second position thereof, a third latch memberfixedly connected to said counterbalance disc for rotation therewith, afourth latch member pivotable between a counterbalance-disc-connectingcondition for connecting said counterbalance disc to the door to effectautomatic movement thereof from the first position to the secondposition thereof and a counterbalance-disc-holding condition formaintaining said counterbalance disc out of operative connection withthe door, said fourth latch member in said counterbalance-disc-holdingcondition thereof being in operative contact with said third latchmember to prevent rotation of said counterbalance disc and said fourthlatch member in the counterbalance-disc-connecting condition thereofbeing out of operative contact with said third latch member thereby topermit rotation of said counterbalance disc, a trigger selectivelyoperable on said second latch member for pivoting said second latchmember between the door-holding condition and the door-releasingcondition thereof and selectively operable on said fourth latch memberfor pivoting said fourth latch member between saidcounterbalance-disc-connecting condition and saidcounTerbalance-disc-holding condition, and a plurality of angularlyspaced lugs on said door disc for selectively rendering said triggeroperable to change the condition of only one of said second and fourthlatch members at one time to cause positive operation of the selectiveone of said latch members by said trigger, whereby selective operationof said fourth latch member to the counterbalance-disc-connectingcondition thereof effects automatic movement of the door from the firstposition to the second position thereof and selective operation of saidsecond latch member to the door disc-releasing condition and fourthlatch member to the counterbalance-disc-holding condition thereofeffects automatic movement of the door from the second position to thefirst position thereof.
 43. A door control mechanism for use with a doormounted in an associated building door-receiving opening to accommodatea manual movement of the door from a first position to a second positionthereof followed by an automatic movement of the door from the secondposition to the first position thereof under the urging of a biasingmeans and then by an automatic movement of the door from the firstposition to the second position thereof and then by a manual movement ofthe door from the second position thereof to the first position thereof,said door control mechanism comprising a door disc operatively connectedto the biasing means to rotate therewith in response to movement of thedoor, a first latch member fixedly connected to said door disc forrotation therewith, a second latch member pivotable between adoor-holding condition for holding the door in the second positionthereof and a door-releasing condition, said second latch member beingnormally biased to said door-holding condition and engageable in saiddoor-holding condition with said first latch member, second latch memberin said door-releasing condition being out of operative contact withsaid first latch member carried by said door disc thereby to permit freerotation thereof, a counter-balance disc for the door and havingassociated therewith an energy-storing device, said counterbalance discbeing operative when connected to the door automatically to move thedoor from the first position to the second position thereof, a thirdlatch member fixedly connected to said counterbalance disc for rotationtherewith, a fourth latch member pivotable between acounterbalance-disc-connecting condition for connecting saidcounterbalance disc to the door to effect automatic movement thereoffrom the first position to the second position thereof and acounterbalance-disc-holding condition for maintaining saidcounterbalance disc out of operative connection with the door, saidfourth latch member in said counterbalance-disc-holding conditionthereof being in operative contact with said third latch member toprevent rotation of said counterbalance disc and said fourth latchmember in the counterbalance-disc-connecting condition thereof being outof operative contact with said third latch member thereby to permitrotation of said counterbalance disc, a trigger selectively operable onsaid second latch member for pivoting said second latch member betweenthe door-holding condition and the door-releasing condition thereof andselectively operable on said fourth latch member for pivoting saidfourth latch member between said counterbalance-disc-connectingcondition and said counterbalance-disc-holding condition, and aplurality of angularly spaced lugs on said door disc for selectivelyrendering said trigger operable to change the condition of only one ofsaid second and fourth latch members at one time to cause positiveoperation of the selective one of said latch members by said trigger,and a control element disposed adjacent to the associated building andoperatively connected to said trigger to activate said trigger inresponse to operation of said control element upon the entering of orthe exiting from the associated building by a wheeled vehicle, wherebysElective operation of said fourth latch member to thecounterbalance-disc-connecting condition thereof effects automaticmovement of the door from the first position to the second positionthereof and selective operation of said second latch member to the doordisc-releasing condition and fourth latch member to thecounterbalance-disc-holding condition thereof effects automatic movementof the door from the second position to the first position thereof.